In the Library
by septasonicxx
Summary: Dramione. CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE! Hermione meets Draco in the library at night and is worried about him.
1. Chapter 1

It had taken a while, but she had finally managed to convince Harry to stop worrying about what Malfoy was up to and go to bed. Ron had gone with him, promising to make sure he put the Marauders map away.

So once she was certain Harry was asleep she crept out of the common room and made her way to the library, where she knew Madame Pince was only just beginning to lock up. Her heart raced in excitement as she got closer and she couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face.

Reaching the library, she burst in just as Madame Pince was walking over to leave. She jumped slightly when she saw Hermione, and then smiled sadly.

"It's after hours, dear. You need to go to your common room." She said gently. After years of practice, Hermione went straight into her act and promptly burst out crying.

"I've just.. I need... I've got to..." she slumped against the wall and felt Madame Pince's hand on her shoulder.

"Well, as long as you lock up when you leave and promise not to be seen by anyone." Madame Pince said kindly and softly. Hermione straightened again and wiped her eyes, nodding and trying to look calm.

"Th-thank you." She said, taking hold of the keys Madame Pince held out to her.

Once the librarian had left out the door, Hermione hurried through the bookshelves before sitting on a chair near the Dark Arts section. She took some deep breaths and waited eagerly.

It was twenty minutes later when the door to the library creaked open again and someone entered. Hermione listened to the soft footsteps approaching where she sat and bit her bottom lip nervously. Then the figure passed the last shelf between them and stopped, looking down at her.

Hermione gasped as soon as she laid eyes on Draco Malfoy, not believing that this could be the same person she had seen the day before yet knowing it was true. His skin was deathly pale and his eyes were void of life. He took another step forward and collapsed on his knees in front of her.

"What happened?" she asked, immediately dropping to her own knees beside him and putting an arm around him in comfort.

"I can't... tell you." He whispered, squeezing his eyes shut. "I haven't told anyone. I'm not allowed." He took a shaky breath and sagged against her as he let it out, looking utterly exhausted.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me." Hermione soothed softly. She reached one hand up to his hair and stroked it slowly, trying to take his mind off whatever was troubling him.

"I just never thought it would be this hard." he mumbled. Then he pushed away from her slightly to look at her face. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." she assured him, smiling and continuing to trail her fingers through his platinum blond hair.

"Why do you trust me so much?" he asked suddenly, frowning in true confusion.

"What do you mean?" Hermione questioned curiously.

"You don't care what I do or don't tell you. We rarely see each other and you have no idea what I spend my time doing. How do you still trust me?"

Hermione thought about it for a moment, and then simply shrugged. How could she tell him what was going around in her head?

"I don't know why I trust you, to be honest. I just do. The way you talk to me when we do manage to meet up is what I base your character on. I believe you're a good person because you've shown me that side of you." Hermione sighed and frowned slightly as she considered her next words. "Sometimes I'm afraid of who you might actually be. I wonder if you're doing things you shouldn't-"

"Potter thinks I'm up to something, doesn't he?" Draco snarled angrily, interrupting her. Hermione winced and her hand froze in his hair. She had been hoping to avoid this subject.

"Yes, he does." she admitted.

"I knew it." Draco spat.

"But listen! I've been telling him that he's probably imagining things, so you don't need to worry. And he's-" Hermione rolled her lips together to stop herself from saying anything else and closed her eyes as if awaiting judgement. Then she carefully opened her eyes again and opened her mouth to speak again. "I'm doing my best to keep him from believing you're up to something, but I'm not so sure he's wrong any more."

Draco stared at her and slowly nodded. He moved away from her and stood up, swaying slightly on his feet as he did so.

"You're not telling me everything." he said quietly. His voice sounded pained and his pale skin and dull eyes added to the effect of hopelessness. It was as if he had nothing left and it was her fault.

"You've never told me everything." Hermione mumbled, lowering her eyes and instantly regretting the words which had left her mouth. Their relationship had always been unsteady as they had tried not to offend each other, and now as she stayed silent she wished fervently that he would not hold this against her.

"Touché." Draco chuckled. Hermione glanced up, startled. She had not been expecting this response from him at all. He was grinning down at her, although it looked strange on his white face.

"I thought-"

"It's a perfectly good reason," he said. "I was being immature about it, after all."

Hermione nodded silently, confused as to how easily he had gotten rid of the tension. Then she remembered what she had been aiming to explain before and said, "Draco, I'm worried about you."

Draco's grin turned into a frown and he didn't say anything for a moment. He knew she had every right to be worried about him – he too knew what he looked like – and yet he also knew that if he told her anything at all she would not be worried about something she didn't know, but something she _did _know.

"That's understandable." he managed. It sounded pathetic and he wanted to just hurriedly explain everything to her in an instant.

"If you could just tell me you'll be alright... or that no one's going to get hurt..." Hermione murmured, floundering for the right words and choking back tears slightly when Draco turned his face away.

"I can't tell you anything. I'm sorry, but I think you understand." Draco sighed and ran a hand through his own hair. "Honestly, I don't even want you to know! I'm afraid you'll..." he trailed off and stared into the distance looking troubled.

"I'll what? Not want to see you again?" Hermioned asked gently.

"Precisely." Draco nodded.

Hermione stood up, facing him. "Harry's been telling me everything he thinks about what you're up to. I've... thought about the possibilities a lot. I don't know if they're correct, and truthfully hope they aren't, but I also know that even if some of the things he has been saying are true I won't be able to stop seeing you."

"You don't understand-"

Hermione didn't wait to hear what he had to say, instead reaching forward quickly and grabbing the sleeve of his left arm to pull it up. She had seen what was there before Draco realised and had a chance to wrench his arm back, hiding it behind his back. His eyes blazed angrily and Hermione suddenly found herself crying.

"I'm sorry... I just wanted to know..." she blubbered, covering her face with her hands. "I didn't think he allowed people so young to... to join."

"You should have asked first." he snapped.

"I know, I'm sorry." Hermione answered quickly.

Draco stared at her, his gaze slowly softening as he saw the pain in her body language. She had only wanted to know, and if she hadn't looked for herself how would she have known if he was telling the truth?

Tugging his sleeve down a bit lower in paranoia, Draco turned and walked from the library. He was not good at being humble for long periods of time and his natural Slytherin personality was threatening to do something horrible to the mudblood. He knew she would probably get the wrong impression from this, but he could not stay. He could not allow himself to live with the knowledge that he had let her see his mark _and_ had stayed afterwards to comfort her. He would not.

It was possible she would never speak to him after this, but he probably wouldn't get a chance to speak to her anyway. After all, he would be completing his mission soon and once that was done he might be able to convince them to take him out of Hogwarts. There would be no option of keeping her around if that happened.

As he walked out the doors of the library he could hear her faint sobbing and a pang of guilt shot through his heart. Sweat broke out on his forehead and he stumbled again, having to lean against the wall for support.

What was he doing? He'd never be able to complete his mission at the rate things were going, and he was throwing away the only possibility of having a friend on the other side who might be able to convince someone powerful to hide him from _them_ –

Shaking his head forcefully, he hardly noticed the tears streaming down his face as he pushed onwards, making his feet step one after the other.

This was it.

There was no turning back now.


	2. Chapter 2

In the Library

Hermione had been distant all week, specifically not talking to Ron at all. Harry was pretty sure that she was jealous of Lavender Brown, Ron's current girlfriend, but hadn't managed to get a confession from either of them(he was pretty sure Ron liked Hermione too) and therefore had to endure their silent fight.

Then there was the problem with Harry being the top student in Potions, meaning Hermione spoke coldly now to him as well. It seemed that there was something she was jealous of with both of her best friends now.

Harry never would have guessed what was actually going through her mind throughout these events, however, as she was hiding her true thoughts very well.

She was, in fact, remembering what had happened between Draco Malfoy and herself every time she saw Ron and Lavender together. Her meetings with the Slytherin had caused her to grow much closer to him than she could have imagined possible and seeing Ron with Lavender reminded her of exactly what she had lost in speaking her mind.

Her coldness towards Harry was first and foremost because he would not shut up about his beliefs that Draco was up to something, and as Harry was beating her at Potions at the same time she had the urge to slap some sense into him as she had done to Draco back in third year. _Load of good that did._

Wanting to protect Draco, she fought to stop Harry worrying about what he was up to. Yet at the same time she really wanted to find out exactly the same thing Harry wanted to know.

What _was_ Draco up to?

Walking back to the common room after their first lesson in apparating, Hermione was once again in a foul mood. Harry had gone to stand near Draco while practising and she was almost positive that before long Harry would go find either Ron or herself to tell them what he had discovered.

Noticing Harry and Ron walking ahead of her, she narrowed her eyes. She heard Ron speaking and moved forward slightly to listen. He was talking about how he'd gone with the apparating.

"...kind of tingling in my feet." Ron was saying.

Hermione quickened her pace and stuck her nose in the air, quickly saying, "I expect your trainers are too small, Won-Won." before continuing forward with a smirk on her face. That would teach him.

She rounded a corner and continued towards the common room for a while, passing various different Gryffindors also heading that way or coming from there to go somewhere else. Her thoughts had already travelled far beyond what she had just said to Ron, and she was now once again thinking about what had happened between herself and Draco.

Glancing around nervously, she turned down a different corridor which led her away from the Gryffindor common room. She didn't quite know why, but she felt as though she needed to just get away and shove her head into a book for a few hours. That way she could forget about all her problems and might even be able to concentrate on her homework again.

Eventually reaching the library, she wandered around the different sections in search for something to capture her attention. Nothing seemed to be jumping out at her, however, so with great reluctance she walked towards the Dark Arts section.

She heard his voice before she saw him and her heart skipped a beat. She paused and listened to what was being said whilst half of her begged for her to just turn and walk out right then.

"I said to leave me alone!" Draco was saying in annoyance.

"Look, I just want to hel-"

"I don't want your help, Zabini! And I'm not allowed to tell anyone! Get lost!" Draco snapped angrily.

"Fine."

Hermione's breath caught in her throat and before she could move Blaise Zabini had walked out from the aisle and headed towards her.

"Move, mudblood." he spat without pause, continuing past her as she leapt to the side in fright. She bit her lip nervously and slowly looked back over towards where Blaise had come from, seeing Draco standing there now with a look of disbelief on his face.

"What are you doing here?" he asked quietly.

"Um..." Hermione searched desperately for an excuse. Then she remembered all she had to do was tell the truth. "I was looking for a book to read."

"Right."

Draco nodded slowly and his dull eyes looked around for something else to focus on. He was holding a book by his side and Hermione tried to inconspicuously read the title. She hadn't known Draco to be someone who read many books.

"Here." Draco said coldly and suddenly, holding the book out to her. Obviously she hadn't been very successful in her inconspicuousness. She tentatively reached a hand out to take it, looking at the title and reading it. _A Wizard's Guide to Disappearing Acts._

"You want to disappear?" Hermione questioned, looking up at him.

"No. In fact it really didn't help me at all, that book." Draco said, folding his arms. "I was looking for something else."

"Do you need help?" Hermione asked quietly.

"In case you hadn't noticed it's not the middle of the night, nor are we alone." Draco snapped. "So get out of my way or I'll move you myself." In a flash his wand was in his hand and his eyes were narrowed in anger. Hermione took a step back in shock, feeling as if an ice-cold knife had just sliced her insides.

"Draco I-"

"Don't call me that!" he yelled, now gaining the attention of everyone who was in the library, despite how far away some of them were. Hermione raised a hand slowly to cover her mouth as tears began sliding down her face. She dropped the book Draco had given to her and then fled, pushing past people in her attempt to escape.

Draco watched her leave. He watched with the feeling of pain that had filled him that night when he had left her just because she had been curious. She had even come back to talk to him, making it obvious that she still wanted to be friend. Had he ruined all chances of that by saying what he had?

_I had to, _Draco thought to himself angrily, bending down to pick up the book she had dropped and returning to the Dark Arts aisle to put it back. _People were watching._

However, he couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling in his gut that told him to go after her and apologise. He did his best to ignore it, submerging himself in more books to put his mind on other things, but in the end all that happened was he was left feeling even more exhausted than before and still hadn't found what he had been looking for.

He had thought his mind was made up, but as he recalled the image of tears streaming down Hermione's face, he was no longer certain.


	3. Chapter 3

In The Library

"Please, what did he say to you?" Harry begged, sitting beside Hermione in the Gryffindor common room. Ron was on the other side of her. They had heard from witnesses that she and Malfoy had been yelling in the Library and that she had run out crying. However, as of yet, she hadn't told them anything about what happened.

"Look, if you're not telling us because of anything we've done to upset you, we're sorry!" Ron said. He shot Harry a look that said he had no idea what to do.

"You don't need to worry about me." Hermione said. She had a book on her lap and was trying to read it, though she hadn't gotten past the first sentence. Harry let out a sigh and Hermione closed her eyes. She felt horrible for keeping it a secret that she'd befriended the Slytherin, but also knew for certain that they wouldn't be able to trust him as much as she did.

"You were _crying_ Hermione!" Ron persisted. "What did he say?"

"It doesn't matter!" Hermione snapped, looking up at him. "Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go to the Library where it's quiet so that I can _concentrate_."

"But what if he's there again?" Harry asked. Hermione turned to face him, one eyebrow raised.

"I don't know about you, but I don't think Malfoy is the type of person to be found frequently in the Library. My guess is that the last time he was there it wasn't by choice. So I doubt he'll be there again." Hermione shut her book and stood up.

"Then let us come." Harry stood up also and Ron followed suit after Harry shot him a look.

"But that's why I want to go! To get away from you!" Hermione exclaimed. "I'm trying to read, but you never stop talking!"

"We just want to know what the git said so we can get him back for it!" Ron said. Hermione groaned and took a few steps away from them. An image of Draco's pale face appeared in her mind and she looked down at the ground. She didn't want anyone disturbing him, especially not these two.

"I can look after myself." she said firmly. "If Malfoy needs to learn a lesson for what he did to me, I'll teach him myself."

"Hermione, is there more to this than we know?" Harry asked gently. She spun around, eyes wide in confusion.

"What do you mean?" she asked quickly.

"Well, whenever I say that I think he's up to something you say I'm getting the ideas from nothing. It's almost as if you're trying to protect him from something. I guess what I'm trying to say is... do you know something about what he's up to that we don't?" Harry asked cautiously, not wanting her to get really angry with him again.

"How on earth am I supposed to know something you don't? Haven't you understood a word I've been saying lately? I don't care if he's up to something or not! There are other things more important to concentrate on!" Hermione replied.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to ask." Harry said, looking down.

"May I go to the Library now?" she asked curtly. Harry and Ron exchanged glances, shuffling on their feet slightly.

"Sure," Harry nodded. "And I'm sorry."

Hermione sighed, tucking her book under her arm and slowly walking to the door of the common room. She didn't like arguing with them at all, but she knew she couldn't actually tell them what was going on. She would ask Draco before divulging any information about him, but as she knew what his answer would be on this subject she didn't even consider it.

As her feet lead her to where she wanted to go, she hoped not many other people would be in there. She needed some peace and quiet so that she could think and hated when there were other people with their friends, squealing and being generally childish.

Putting a hand on the doorknob, Hermione opened it and walked in. She looked around and was thankful that there were only a handful of people around in different places. It meant she would finally be able to read without being interrupted.

"You're supposed to be able to help students find books, you old hag!"

Hermione gasped and turned to where Madame Pince was being shouted at by none other than Draco Malfoy. Madame Pince had stepped backwards and covered her mouth with one hand.

"How dare you speak to me like that, young man!" Madame Pince declared in a horrified voice.

Lowering his voice, Draco said something else which made Madame Pince back up even more. Hurriedly, and without thinking, Hermione walked over to them.

"I can try and help him find his book if you'd like, Madame Pince." Hermione said, stepping between them. She refused to look at Draco, knowing that he would simply be glaring at her angrily.

"I'm putting you on detention, Mr Malfoy!" Madame Pince said, and then turned to Hermione. "Thank you dear, but I doubt you'll be much more help than I am."

"I can still try." Hermione said defiantly, lifting her chin slightly.

"Very well." Madame Pince sighed and walked away. Hermione squared her shoulders and turned to Draco, staring over his shoulder to avoid looking at his eyes.

"What book are you looking for?" she asked. Draco folded his arms and tilted his head, but didn't say anything. "I can't help you unless I know what you're looking for." Hermione said in a slightly firmer voice.

"I never said I wanted your help," Draco finally said and Hermione fought desperately not to look at him.

"Please just tell me what you're looking for, I don't want to make a scene." she said.

Draco scoffed and shifted his weight. "You can't even look at me."

Hermione closed her eyes, fighting the urge to open them and stare into his face. She knew what she would see; an accusing glare that told her just how angry he was for what she had done. He had already shown from their past two encounters that he was not about to forget about it easily.

"Just tell me what you're looking for." Hermione pleaded, her voice softer than before.

"You're smart, Granger," Draco acknowledged. "Which means I can't tell you what I'm looking for because you'd probably figure out my entire plan."

"So you do have a plan..." Hermione whispered, lowering her head. Draco mentally cursed himself for giving away so much already. Was he finally losing his wits?

"Leave me alone." he said, his voice strong and unrelenting. Hermione lifted her head, her eyes opening instinctively, and she found herself looking at his face. He was still as pale as he had been before, but looked worse in the current light.

"I want to help you," she said gently, taking a step forward. "Don't you understand?"

"Stay out of my business." he snarled, backing away.

"Isn't there anything you could do to get out of what you have to do?" Hermione asked, sorrow filling her eyes as she stared at him. His swallowed stiffly, trying not to allow the words she had spoken affect him.

"The best thing for you to do is pretend nothing ever happened-"

"Draco, we're friends!" Hermione burst out, her hands clenching and relaxing multiple times. "If you don't want to tell me everything that's going on, then fine! I've always dealt with that! But if I _ever_ once refused to tell _you_ something you always got angry with me. The one time I did something to make sure I'd find out the truth without you getting a chance to lie, the same thing happened! Why is that? Why do I have to be the one always in the dark? Why are you the one who's always allowed to be angry whenever I do something you don't approve of?"

Draco blinked, as if not quite understanding what had just happened. He swallowed again and opened his mouth slightly. But Hermione wasn't finished yet.

"I cared for you because you were my friend. But if you think I'm going to let you push me around like you do everyone else, you're wrong. Not once did you ever say 'It's alright if you don't tell me', not once! How many times did I say it to you? You sugar-coat everything you say to me, but whenever I attempt to do the same you call me out for not being straight with you!

"I'm done, Draco. I'm done trying to find out what's going on in your head and failing. I'm done telling you things I don't want to just because you get angry when I don't. It's not like you've shown much desire for this friendship to continue, so I'm going to help you out. It's done. Everything. You fight alone this time."

Taking a deep breath and blinking back tears, Hermione turned and walked from the Library, keeping her head straight and staring ahead.

She knew he wasn't going to follow her. Even though a small part of her wished that he would.s


	4. Chapter 4

In The Library

Sorry this one's slightly shorter. I didn't want to have to cut it off during an important moment which I'll now be putting in the next chapter. Please review! You know I'll always love you if you do!

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Draco could hardly breathe as he paced outside the library. He had been thinking about this moment for an entire week now and couldn't hold it off any longer. He knew that Hermione would be exiting any minute and wasn't going to risk missing her. He had to talk to her. He couldn't let their argument go any longer.

_"You fight alone this time."_

Draco did his best to push Hermione's words from his mind, but they stuck as if they had been super-glued to his soul. She couldn't possibly mean it. She was far too nice and as soon as she realised he was sorry she'd apologise as well. All Gryffindors were the same. It was that very thought which Draco was holding onto so desperately.

The door opened and Draco immediately stopped pacing, turning to face whoever was walking out. The intense concentration, stress and worry was etched onto his face.

"Oh!" Hermione gasped and took a step back as she looked up into his face, having almost walked into him. They were both silent for a few moments as they stared at each other, but just as Draco opened his mouth to speak Hermione beat him to it. "Should have been watching where I was going, sorry."

She looked away from him and took a step forward.

"Hermione-"

"Malfoy, please leave me alone." Hermione begged, her voice quiet and pleading as she moved to walk past him. He could see the pain on her face as she stared at the ground and before he could stop himself he had grabbed her arm and swung her back round to look at him again.

"Come with me for a moment." he whispered.

"You've lost your chance, Draco..." Hermione mumbled, avoiding his eyes and trying to stop her tears from falling.

"If you come now I will tell you everything I've been doing and why." Draco said, swallowing nervously as soon as the words left his mouth. Hermione glanced up at him and a stray tear spilled over.

"I don't want to know!" she gasped, pulling away from him.

"Hermione, please!" he persisted, holding tightly. "If I don't tell you now I never will!"

"Then don't!" Hermione said, glancing around for anyone who might be able to come and help her. "Let me go, Draco. Forget we ever had something!"

Draco's eyes widened and he stared at her, his grip tightening on her arms until she was wincing and biting her lip from the pain.

"You felt it too." he said softly.

"Draco," Hermione whispered. "Draco, you're hurting me."

It was as if Draco had been pulled out of a trance as he suddenly noticed what he was doing and released his grip on her.

"What did you say you wanted me to forget?" Draco asked.

"Everything that happened between us!" Hermione said, massaging her arms gently where he had been holding on. "We were never meant to be together Draco, there's no way it would work."

"Who ever said I was falling for you during our meetings?" Draco pressed, taking a step towards her. Fear suddenly flared up in Hermione's eyes and Draco couldn't help but smirk as he watched her flounder around for the right words.

"I just... I thought..." she swallowed hard and turned away from him, squeezing her eyes shut and not even trying to wipe away the tears that fell.

She didn't need to. Draco slowly reached up and with one finger swiped them off her cheeks, staring at her in a way he had never allowed himself to before. He was allowing his love to show plainly on his face and felt incredibly vulnerable because of it.

_Open your eyes, Hermione... look at what you've done in me._

"I felt it too." Draco murmured aloud, the remains of a smirk still on his face. It looked much more like a smile now and as Hermione's eyes flickered open and gave him a look at her beautiful brown irises he could no longer fight against the feeling within him.

Leaning in, he pressed his lips against hers.

An explosion. That was what he felt when he kissed her and slipped his arms around her waist. He felt her tender response as she kissed back and carefully wrapped her own arms around his neck.

The power of it all made him feel suddenly weak and he felt a tear on his own cheek which he could not deny was his own. He knew he could not keep her. There was no way her friends would accept him after everything he had ever done to them. Nor would his family and friends accept her. It was precisely as she had said.

They just weren't meant to be together.

Hermione was suddenly pulling away and Draco held onto her tighter again, fearing that she would bolt and he would be left alone again.

"I never thought..." Hermione began, breathing heavily. "I never thought you loved me."

"It's impossible not to." Draco replied quietly.

"Why now?" Hermione asked, her eyes betraying all of her emotions to him as clearly as if they had been written on parchment. "Why are you only telling me now?"

"I was scared." Draco told her quietly. "I only ever snapped at you all those times because I was worried about, about what I have to do."

"And why have you decided to let me know what you're doing?" Hermione asked in an equally quiet voice.

"I owe you that much." Draco admitted, as much to himself as to her. "I thought that if you knew you'd hate me. And I still worry what you'll do once I tell you... I wonder how hard you'll fight to make me give up."

"You're not planning on giving up, then." Hermione stated softly.

"If I tell you what I have to do, you need to promise me that you won't try to stop me." Draco said. Hermione was silent as she stared down at the ground and considered what he was asking her to do. The risks involved were huge.

Finally, Hermione looked up at him again and moved one of her hands to the side of his face, stroking it gently as she stared into his pale grey eyes.

"I promise."


	5. Chapter 5

In The Library

Draco had told her to meet him in the room of requirement after dinner that night and she had every intention of doing so. She glanced across at Harry where he was bent over his food, pretending to be engrossed in what he was eating when in actual fact he was checking the marauders map to see whether Draco was in the room.

"Harry, if you want to see whether Malfoy is in here eating dinner like the rest of us why don't you turn and look?" Hermione asked in a quiet hiss as she leant forward slightly. He looked up at her like a puppy caught digging the garden and hurriedly put the map away.

"He's not here, Hermione." Harry whispered.

"So what?" Hermione asked. "Maybe he's gone to the bathroom or something!"

"I saw him up on the seventh floor!" Harry replied, quickly looking around to make sure no one else was listening.

"Honestly Harry, I refuse to believe that anyone as young as us would be allowed to become one of them." Hermione said firmly, sitting back in her chair slightly and looking away from him. By pure chance, her eyes found Ron and Lavender.

They were sitting together on one of the benches and Lavender was giggling continuously, with Ron smiling and whispering things in her ear.

The sight disgusted Hermione, although she couldn't stop herself wondering whether that could have ever happened between her and Draco. Hurriedly shaking her head and looking down at her food, she tried to think about something else.

"Hermione, I'm going to try and find him after dinner." Harry said quietly.

"Harry, no! What about your homework?" Hermione asked sharply. If Harry went to find Draco she'd never get a chance to meet up with him.

"I'll do it later! Why do you care so much whether I find out what he's up to or not?" Harry asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Well let's say hypothetically that he actually is up to something," Hermione said, folding her arms neatly. "If you go after him the only thing you'll achieve is he'll probably end up hurting you as he tries to protect his secret."

"I'm stronger than him, Hermione." Harry said. "Besides, he's a wimp!"

"He is not a-!" Hermione swallowed the next word hurriedly and looked away. "Don't underestimate him. I can't bare to think of you getting hurt."

"Hermione, I won't!" Harry persisted.

"Alright fine, if you're going to go chasing all over the castle for him then I'm coming with you." Hermione said firmly.

"Great!" Harry grinned. "I was hoping you'd say that. Then when we discover what he's up to you won't be able to deny it."

Hermione turned away from him and continued eating, feeling incredibly frustrated. At least she knew that once Draco saw the two of them he'd understand that she had tried to stop Harry. He'd know then that it wasn't her fault.

Once dinner ended, Harry gestured for Hermione to follow and quickly walked from the Great Hall. Hermione glanced around nervously before following, wanting desperately to snatch the map from Harry and burn it so he could never find out where Draco was ever again.

"I'll just make sure he's still there," Harry murmured as he pulled his wand and the map from his pocket. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Hermione watched silently as Harry searched for the seventh floor on the map. After locating it, Harry checked every single corridor and all the rooms.

"Maybe he went to the Slytherin common room." Hermione said with a shrug. They hadn't seen his name anywhere.

"No." Harry shook his head. "He's in the room of requirement. I'm sure of it. The only question is how we're going to get in there too."

"How do you know this, Harry?" Hermione asked angrily.

"Alright," Harry began flipping the map and folding it different ways. "Then I'll check the Slytherin common room for you."

Hermione bit her lip nervously as Harry showed her plainly that Draco was not there either. He then tapped the map again, said 'Mischief managed' and put it back in his pocket.

"Are you still coming?" he asked.

"Of course I'm still coming!" Hermione said quickly.

They made their way up to the seventh floor without talking, Harry leading the way to the room of requirement. Hermione was hanging back slightly only because she was dreading the possibility that they might actually get inside and be face to face with Draco. What if Draco misunderstood the situation and thought she had brought Harry to listen in to his plan and then tell someone about it?

"It's just up there." Harry said quietly as they walked towards the blank wall which hid the door to the room of requirement.

"I'm not sure if this is a good idea." Hermione said nervously.

"Wands out." Harry told her, pulling his own out. Hermione swallowed and took out hers as well, hoping that the room would stay sealed for Draco and not allow anyone to enter.

_I need you to stay closed._ Hermione thought strongly as they walked closer. She knew Harry was probably thinking something different to try and make the door appear and the thought only made her repeat her own again and again.

"Come on... open." Harry murmured, closing his eyes to concentrate.

_Please stay shut! Don't open! If you open the door for us something terrible will happen!_ Hermione thought, now also closing her eyes. She felt as if she was fighting a secret battle against Harry just to keep the door hidden. And Harry didn't even know...

"Potter? Granger? What are those looks of constipation for?"

Hermione and Harry spun around, now standing face to face with Draco. _Of course_, Hermione thought to herself, _the room lets you out a different way if there's danger where you came in_.

"What were you doing up here?" Harry snapped.

"I could ask you the same question, Potter." Draco snarled.

"You weren't at dinner. What were you doing?" Harry pressed on.

"Missed me, did you?" Draco asked with a smirk, folding his arms. "Why don't you just keep you nose out of my business and keep it in your own?"

"Come on, let's go." Hermione begged, taking Harry's arm and trying to pull him away.

"Not until I know what he's up to!" Harry fumed.

Hermione pushed Harry roughly against a wall, a glare on her face as she leant close to whisper something to him. "Harry, go back to the common room and do your homework. We'll make Malfoy think we've given up but I'll go back into the room of requirement and see if I can find out what he was doing. No arguments!"

Harry frowned as she released him but walked off to do as she said. Draco made a face at him when he walked by and Hermione was glad that Harry refrained from biting the bait and simply kept walking.

When he was finally around the corner and out of sight, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm so sorry, I did my best." she said quietly.

"Doesn't matter. Come on." Draco walked towards the room of requirement again and closed his eyes in thought. Moments later a door appeared and Draco looked over his shoulder at Hermione, reaching out a hand for her.

"I'm coming." she said softly, smiling and taking his hand. They walked through the door together and it closed behind them securely, sealing them off from the rest of the world. Draco kept walking forward and lead her towards a large cabinet. Hermione gasped when she saw it, instantly remembering that there had been one just like it in Borgin and Bourkes.

"You know more than I thought you did." Draco said thoughtfully as he watched her expression.

"I saw one in Borgin and Bourkes..." she muttered.

"What were you doing there?" Draco asked, screwing his face up. Hermione Granger? In Borgin and Bourkes? That just wasn't a likely story.

"Actually... Harry, Ron and I were following you and your mother that day." Hermione admitted. "I'm sorry."

"I'm amazed you haven't already worked it out, then." Draco said.

"Let's see," Hermione thought aloud. "You were looking in a book about disappearing and you've just shown me a... a vanishing cabinet!" Hermione gasped. "It's a vanishing cabinet, isn't it?"

"Congratulation. What else?"

"Well, there's one in Borgin and Bourkes so that means... you can move things from here to there! And vice versa!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Not quite. This one's broken." Draco tapped the door of the cabinet with a sigh. "But I have to fix it."

"What's your mission, Draco?" Hermione asked gently.

Draco turned away, staring at the cabinet thoughtfully. He didn't speak for a few moments and Hermione wondered if he expected her to work this out for herself as well, but then he turned back to her again, his eyes showing the stress he felt once more.

"I have to bring the Death Eaters into the castle."


	6. Chapter 6

In The Library

Hermione was silent as she watched Draco's face. He looked so worried and stressed, as if he had no idea what he was going to do about the situation he had found himself in. She felt so sorry for him and wished she could help him escape so that he wouldn't have to do anything. But she had promised she would not attempt to stop him.

"I'll help you." Hermione said gently.

"What?" Draco asked, shocked. "Don't be stupid! You don't have to become any more involved in this than you already are. I just asked you not to try and stop me, so now you can leave and everything can go back to how it was before!"

Draco wrung his hands together, a crease in his forehead as he was already worrying about what Hermione had said. He didn't know why, but he kept thinking about how guilty he would feel if she got herself killed. It would be all his fault. But why did he keep thinking about that? Hermione was more than capable of looking after herself.

"Draco, I can't just stand back and watch this mission slowly kill you!" Hermione protested. "I'm going to help you so that you do it right and don't get into even more trouble than you're already in."

"Don't be stupid!" Draco repeated, looking up at her angrily.

"You can't stop me." Hermione said stubbornly, folding her arms and glaring at him. "Besides, I know how to fix it."

"You shouldn't lie." Draco snapped angrily.

"I'm not!" Hermione said, her arms falling to her sides and clenching into fists. "Just trust me and I'll be able to help you."

Draco looked doubtful and was silent for a few moments as he watched her face, then he lowered his eyes and turned away, running a hand over the door of the cabinet. Hermione heard him sigh quietly and she slowly loosened her fists, trying her hardest to be calm.

"Sometimes I feel as though I really hate you." Draco said in a low voice without turning around.

Hermione swallowed nervously, hardly daring to move in case he turned and struck her. It wouldn't have surprised her if he did due to his current mood and all the stress that was holding him down like chains.

"What possessed me to tell you?" Draco asked himself. "You're a mudblood, for goodness sake!"

"If it helps," Hermione said softly. "I think I love you."

Draco turned around sharply, his eyes staring accusingly at her. He stepped towards her and she found herself backing up into some of the other objects which had one day been hidden in the room, fear taking hold of her.

"You say that so easily. How can you?" Draco asked bluntly.

"It's true!" Hermione replied, trying to sound more confident than she felt.

"I don't believe you." Draco raised his chin slightly and looked away again, clenching his teeth together firmly. He didn't step back though and Hermione felt the blood rush to her face as she realised how close they were standing. If she reached forward a few inches she would...

Hermione suddenly found her right hand clinging to Draco's shirt desperately and looked up to find his eyes boring down into hers, although they were now more curious than anything else.

"You're blushing." Draco murmured.

"I'm embarrassed." Hermione replied softly.

"Why?" Draco asked, slowly moving his arms around her waist and pulling her even closer than before. Their faces drew close and Hermione closed her eyes, feeling her heart beating furiously in her chest.

"Because I love you."

Their lips met anxiously and Hermione felt as if she couldn't get close enough, no matter how hard she pulled him towards her. She felt as if she were breaking a million rules all at once and the thrill of it was intoxicating.

Oh gosh, she was kissing Draco Malfoy _again_!

It only took her a few more seconds to gather her thoughts and gently push him back from her. She didn't think she'd be able to speak right away but decided to try anyway, as there was something she really wanted to say to him.

"Draco," her voice came our croaky at first so she paused to clear it before continuing. "I _do_ believe I'm-"

Draco silenced her as he moved forward and captured her lips again, refusing to allow her to finish her sentence. Her throat itched with the desperation to get the words out but she was soon swept up completely and entirely in the thrill of kissing Draco again.

Draco was terrified of Hermione's words. She truly believed she loved him, but that would only get the both of them in trouble! She had told him that they would never work out, so why was she now so convinced that everything would be fine so long as they knew they loved each other? That was why Draco was now standing firm with his new resolve to not tell her he loved her ever again. It would only give her false hope that something more might one day become of them.

And that would definitely not happen.

Not once she found out he was still keeping something from her - something which would break her heart and most probably cause her to turn and curse him.

"Hermione, go now before Potter starts worrying." Draco murmured as he pulled away. She blinked slowly and looked up at him through her lashes, the love as clear on her face as a cloudless sky.

"I lo-"

"Go!" Draco urged, cutting her off and pushing her towards the door gently. Hermione's eyebrows frowned slightly and Draco knew she was hurt by the fact that he would not allow her to say what she wanted to, but then she slowly nodded and turned to the door, walking away from him.

"Don't tell anyone what I told you." Draco warned quietly as Hermione put one hand on the doorknob. She paused and glanced over at him over her shoulder, tears clinging to her eyelashes.

"You still don't trust me." she whispered, before pulling the door open forcefully and disappearing.

The closing of the door sounded loud to Draco's ears and it took all of his mental strength to turn back to the cabinet and once again set about trying to fix it. There was no need for him to go chasing after her to wipe her tears if he would only turn her away again the next moment.

Besides, after his mission was complete she wouldn't want his comfort ever again.

And to think, it had all started with _his_ need for comfort.


	7. Chapter 7 Part 1

Talk about a long chapter! Sorry if it's an inconvenience, but I really felt that all of this had to be put together. At least I split it into two parts, so it doesn't look like too much... Anyway, I'll stop talking so you can go on with reading the story.

**~Flashback~**

_Hermione was walking back to the Gryffindor common room after having Ancient Runes when she first heard it. She was taking a different route than normal and was passing one of the bathrooms when she heard what sounded like crying and decided to investigate._

_She walked over to the door of the bathroom and almost left again straight away. It was a boys bathroom and she was certainly not allowed in there under any circumstances what-so-ever. The only thing which caused her to knock gently on the door, however, was the sound of sobbing which still reached her ears._

_Taking a deep breath, she waited patiently for the person inside the room to come and open the door. She wasn't even really sure whether they had heard her, but she wasn't going to knock again unless nothing happened after a minute._

_Sure enough, Hermione found herself knocking louder on the door after a minute passed and the door did not open._

_This time, however, the crying ceased._

_"Hello? Are you alright in there?" Hermione called through the door._

_Soft footsteps were heard walking towards the door and they paused on the other side of it. She could almost picture the unknown boy wondering whether or not he should open up or not. Then she heard the boy whisper a spell which she recognised as one to remove traces of red eyes and a red face. Clearly he did not want anyone to know he had been crying._

_The moment the door opened Hermione gasped. Standing before her with one eyebrow raised and a hand on his hip was Draco Malfoy. There was a slight glint on one of his eyelashes which was all that remained of his tears but other than that he looked as if he had never cried in hislife._

_"What do you want, mudblood? Did you get lost, did you? I think the girls bathroom is down a couple of corridors." Draco said, leaning one arm on the doorpost and smirking at her mockingly._

_"I heard someone crying. You haven't been tormenting a first year, have you?" Hermione accused him, narrowing her eyes._

_"So what if I have?" Draco asked, lowering his voice. "What are you gonna do about it?"_

_"I'll report it to a teacher!" Hermione threatened. "Although I don't actually think you have been."_

_"Then what will you say to them? 'I think Malfoy's been terrorising a first year, well, actually I don't.' Great argument. I'm sure they'll come running." Draco scoffed._

_"Tell me what you were just doing." Hermione said firmly._

_"What? Come on, Granger! It's a bathroom! Do I have to spell it out for you?" Draco asked angrily. Hermione felt her blood rush to her face in embarrassment and she clenched her teeth, glaring at him._

_"Why were you crying?" she asked._

_"Crying? In your dreams Granger." Draco rolled his eyes and moved to shut the door in her face but she stuck a hand out to hold it open._

_"Are you hurt?" she continued, wanting to find out as much as she could._

_"Since when do you care? Leave me alone!" Draco pushed hard against the door to try and close it, finally managing to dislodge Hermione's firm hold and have her stumble backwards as the door slammed._

_"Malfoy open the door! If you're hurt you should go to Madame Pomfrey!" Hermione called through the door, banging on it._

_"I never said I was hurt! Get lost!" he retorted, his voice further away. It seemed he didn't think her capable of entering a boys bathroom and had therefore walked away from the door, thinking that her morals would keep her outside._

_Swiftly, Hermione opened the door and stepped in, closing it behind her firmly. Her heart was pounding as she looked around the room and realised she was standing in forbidden territory. Draco turned around from where he was standing, shock written on his face as he stared at her. One did not need to be incredibly good at reading body language to figure out that he was stunned beyond belief._

_"Uh, hi." Hermione gulped, feeling incredibly foolish._

_"Are you mad!?" Draco finally managed to ask._

_"I just want to know why you were crying!" Hermione argued._

_"So you have something else to use against me? No way!" Draco turned away again and faced the mirror on the wall, staring into it angrily._

_As Hermione stood there staring at him, she felt as though this could be the moment she had been waiting for. The chance to reach into someone else's life and help them out that she had been wanting. But of all people, did it have to be Malfoy?_

Perhaps I can help him,_ Hermione thought to herself. _Maybe I can help him see that following Voldemort isn't the right thing to do.

_"You need help, don't you?" Hermione asked softly._

_"Get lost." Draco snapped._

_"I could help you." she continued. "And I want to."_

_"Why on earth would you want to help me?" Draco yelled, turning around to glare at her. He was trembling and Hermione felt a twinge of compassion for him within herself. What had his life been like? What had happened to him to make him the way he was?_

_"Everyone deserves a second chance, Draco, and I could give you yours." Hermione offered quietly. "You don't have to reply right now, but I'd like you to think about it. I could be someone to talk to. Someone who will listen."_

_Draco frowned, his expression still one of anger, as Hermione stared at him with sorrow in her eyes. There was such honesty on her face, but why?_

_"Meet me in the library tomorrow night after ten o'clock, next to the restricted section." Hermione said. "Then you can tell me whether or not you want my help."_

_Breathing slowly, Hermione turned and left the room, leaving behind a bewildered Draco Malfoy who had absolutely no idea what had just happened._

_*_

_The night came which Hermione had told Draco to meet her in the library and she was sitting beside the restricted section with a book on her lap. Whether he came or not, at least she would be able to get some school work done while she waited._

_Hermione glanced at her watch at regular intervals, managing to catch the time changes every five minutes from ten o'clock. She must have ended up checking her watch ten times when she looked again to see that it was 10:50._

_Maybe he wasn't coming..._

_Surely he would have come earlier if he was planning to? It was pointless continuing to wait around for him as all students were supposed to be in their common rooms by now anyway._

_Sighing, Hermione stood up and closed her book. The library was empty now, apart from her and Madame Pince, and she hoped Madame Pince wouldn't get her in trouble for being out so late._

_"Face the music, Hermione," she told herself quietly as she walked towards the door to the library. "You can't help everyone in the world and not everyone wants helping, either."_

_*_

_It was one week later when a first year came up to her in the library, passing her a piece of paper and then running off again quickly. Hermione was intrigued as to who was sending her a letter through a first year, but her question was soon answered when she opened it up and read the words._

_Mudblood,_

_Do you honestly expect me to lower myself to walking into the filthy Hogwarts library just so that I can tell you that I don't want you? I find my method perfectly fine, which is why I am using it to reply to your little suggestion in the bathroom. So don't try responding, because I have no interest in what you have to say what-so-ever._

_Slytherin Prince, Draco Malfoy_

_Hermione's eyes had blurred as she read and her face was hot in embarrassment. How dare he word it like that? He had made it sound like she had asked him to go out with her or something! As if he hoped someone else would end up reading it as well and then think she had a crush on him._

_Clenching her fists, she stood up and decided to seek him out immediately just so that she could yell at him and put him back in his place. There was definitely no hope for him. She would never be able to make him see things her way. He was the biggest jerk in the world and needed to have someone knock some sense into him._

_Walking out of the library with the letter still clenched in her hand, Hermione began her search for Draco. Would he be in the Slytherin common room, or in the Great Hall? Or would he be wandering the castle somewhere, deliberately making it harder for her to find him?_

_Rounding a corner, Hermione saw the first year girl who had given her the letter up ahead. She quickened her steps to reach her._

_"Excuse me," Hermione said. The girl looked over at her and sighed._

_"You want me to take a reply to him?" she asked, agitated._

_"No, I was just wondering if you knew where he was right now." Hermione said, a hopeful look on her face. The girl pursed her lips in thought for a moment and then nodded._

_"I heard him say to one of his friends that he was going to the owlery to send a letter to his mother." she told Hermione._

_"Thank you so much!" Hermione exclaimed, hurriedly dashing off in the direction of the owlery. If she could reach it in time he might still be there and might even possibly be alone. Unless he had taken his friends with him, but even if he had it wouldn't matter._

_In ten minutes she was running up the owlery steps and opening the door, stopping to catch her breath and watch as Draco spun around, obviously startled. Her mouth fell open as she saw his red eyes and tear-stained cheeks, but he hurriedly turned away again and his appearance was hidden from her._

_"I told you not to try and reply." he said gruffly, his voice muffled slightly as he wiped his face to try and hide the evidence._

_All thought of what she had been going to do left Hermione's mind. Seeing him so vulnerable and upset seemed to cut right to her heart and her original idea of trying to help him flared up once again, stronger than it had been before. _

_"What happened?" she asked softly._

_"Why do you keep asking about me?" Draco spun around and the anger leapt out at her from his eyes as he advanced. She gasped quietly and stepped backwards in fear. "I'm a Slytherin! Doesn't that bother you?"_

_"Everyone deserves a chance!" Hermione replied, hoping her voice sounded as firm as she wanted it to be._

_"A chance for what? To tell people what makes them weak so they can be picked apart even more?" Draco yelled. "I thought my letter explained it! I don't want your help! Leave me alone and just give up."_

_Draco made his way to move past her but she grabbed his arm to stop him, narrowing her eyes._

_"You frustrate me beyond belief!" Hermione snapped. "Nevertheless, if you _ever_ want to talk about anything for any reason at all, you can talk to me."_

_"Don't be stupid!" Draco growled, pushing her away from him. "Do you want me to tell my father that some filthy mudblood-!" Draco faltered and clenched his teeth together, looking away. He was quite obviously fighting to control his feelings._

_"What about your father?" Hermione asked cautiously, as she was pretty sure that was what had made him stop his sentence. Draco turned his head toward his hand and lifted it slightly before he could stop himself, and that was when Hermione noticed he too was holding a letter tightly._

_"Keep your nose out of my business." Draco said shortly._

_"You don't have to be like him," Hermione said softly. "You can create a completely new life for yourself that has nothing to do with him." She smiled slightly to try and encourage him, her heart burning with excitement. Who better to help him than her, anyway? If she failed to do so then there would be no hope for him._

_"Be careful what you say, mudblood," Draco spat. "I'm quite capable of hexing you."_

_"I don't think you will." Hermione said softly._

_"Get out of here before it's put to the test!" Draco yelled. "I don't want you to speak to me ever again!"_

_Hermione bit her lip nervously and stayed staring at him for a few more moments before reluctantly turning and walking back down the staircase of the owlery._

_She would try again another day._

_*_

_Draco Malfoy could not explain the reasons for his visit to the library that night two weeks after the incident with Hermione in the owlery, other than the fact that he had been feeling extremely stressed and was sick of his Slytherin friends hanging around him all the time._

_Whatever the reasons, he soon found himself walking past the various shelves filled with books until he stumbled across the Dark Arts section. He sat down on a stool that had been placed there and stared blindly at the books directly in front of him. He didn't care what they were about at all and was simply thankful for the silence that finally surrounded him at long last._

_He must have sat there an hour doing absolutely nothing at all except staring at a book whose title he still did not know when someone walked past the aisle he was in and stopped._

_"Malfoy?"_

_His head snapped up and he looked over to see Hermione standing there, curiosity in her eyes as she glanced from him to the books he had been gazing at. He then found himself interested to find out exactly what it was he _had_ been staring at for the past hour and glanced back over at it, reading, _How to defend yourself against Dark magic.

_"It's after hours, are you okay?" Hermione asked softly._

_Draco was silent, his tongue feeling dead in his mouth. He didn't want to talk to her right now. He had recently found himself thinking over everything she had said to him and wanting to take her up on her offer, if only because no other Slytherin would be willing to offer him such help other than Pansy - and the mere thought of her sent shudders of disgust through his body._

_"You should go back to your common room, anyway," Hermione shrugged, shifting a book she was holding to under one arm. "I don't think Madame Pince knows you're here."_

_"If I wanted your advice I'd ask for it." Draco said suddenly, although his tone of voice was calm and not at all harsh._

_Hermione nodded slowly and turned to leave, but Draco stood up so abruptly that the stool he had been sitting on tipped over backwards with a muffled crash and it startled her, making her turn back to him._

_"I'd ask if I wanted your advice." Draco repeated, though his words were now rearranged. He furrowed his eyebrows and stared into the distance, as if trying to figure out what exactly it was that he wanted to say to her._

_"It's okay, I'll leave." Hermione said softly._

_"Wait," Draco said, immediately regretting it. He sounded pathetic!_

_"Do you need anything?" Hermione asked. She sounded so kind, as if she truly cared about how he felt and whether he was alright or not._

_"Is this your strange way of trying to get to know me better?" Draco asked, moving his head slightly so as to look at her._

_"Perhaps." Hermione lifted her chin slightly defiantly, showing that she wasn't about to let him know her true motives just yet. He chuckled lightly and took a step towards her._

_"I'll let you help me, Granger," he began slowly. "As long as you promise not to offer me advice unless I specifically ask for it. And you have to be willing to tell me more about yourself so that I may become more likely to – ah, let's see – _trust_ your advice when you do give it._

_"I do _not_, however, wish to be seen in public talking to you. Therefore we will meet only at night and it must be somewhere no one else would ever go. Ah, perfect. We'll just meet up here then, shall we?"_

_Hermione stared in disbelief at Draco and tried to make her brain connect to her mouth so that she could say something and stop looking stupid._

_"How am I supposed to help you, then?" she asked carefully._

_"You'll figure something out." Draco smirked and then walked forward, moving past her and towards the door to the library in order to leave. Hermione swallowed nervously and shivered slightly, wondering what she had just gotten herself into._

_It wasn't safe. He was a Malfoy._

_Yet for some reason, she was excited about tomorrow night._


	8. Chapter 7 Part 2

**~Continue Flashback~**

_Hermione made her way to the Dark Arts section in the library excitedly. She saw this meeting as a challenge and wanted to prove herself to him. She was also thankful that Draco himself had suggested that she tell him more about herself, as she had wanted to do that in the first place for the exact same reason why he had then said it and now she simply had to pretend she was going along with _his_ idea._

_Sitting down on the stool which she had found Draco sitting on only yesterday, she waited patiently for him to arrive and picked up a book to read as she did so._

_She had finished five pages when Draco walked into the aisle and stopped in front of her, his eyes watching her intensely for a reaction of some kind. Calmly, she placed the book back on the shelf and stood up to face him._

_"Malfoy." she said plainly. She dared not say anything else in case he got angry with her and she was desperate to stay on his good side for the duration of the meeting. She swallowed and Malfoy smirked, apparently seeing right through to how nervous she was._

_"Still want to help me?" he asked, amused._

_"Yes." she nodded firmly and he raised an eyebrow before also nodding._

_"Get to work, then." he said with a shrug, gesturing for her to do something. Hermione swallowed nervously again and sat back down on the stool. Draco frowned slightly before glancing over his shoulder and then turning back to her, sitting down on the floor._

_"I uh," Hermione looked away from him. "I'm not sure what to do, honestly."_

_"Clearly." Draco smirked again._

_"You've made it so difficult, though!" Hermione protested, now looking at him. "If I can't offer you advice, how am I supposed to help you at all?"_

_"Maybe we should start with the basics?" Draco suggested, reaching a hand out towards her. "I'm Draco Malfoy."_

_"Don't be silly." Hermione said in annoyance, frowning slightly. Draco dropped his hand._

_"I have a question which I would like you to answer truthfully." Draco said. "Why do you want to help me when I'm your enemy? I've done my best ever since first year to make yours, Potty's and Weasel's lives miserable. Why the sudden change of heart?"_

_Hermione sighed and put her head in her hand, wondering what she was going to say to him. He probably wouldn't be interested in the truth, but would she be able to think up a convincing lie in time?_

_"I don't know." she mumbled, feeling ashamed as soon as the words left her lips._

_Draco stared at her silently for a while, contemplating whether or not he believed her. He himself didn't know why he had accepted her offer anyway, so it was possible that she didn't know why she had offered. Perhaps it was fate..._

_But believing in fate was silly._

_"So what classes did you have today?" he asked awkwardly._

_"Oh, Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies-"_

_Draco scoffed and Hermione narrowed her eyes angrily._

_"Just like you to do Muggle Studies, I suppose. But why bother? Wouldn't you ace it because you practically are one?" Draco asked._

_"Wouldn't you choose 'Pureblood Studies' if it was a class?" Hermione asked pointedly. Draco smirked and nodded._

_"I see your point." he said._

_They fell silent again for a while before Draco pushed himself up off the ground to stand. Hermione looked up at him curiously but he avoided her gaze._

_"Meet me again tomorrow night. I'm going to bed."_

_And with that, he slipped away and left the library, not even waiting for a reply from Hermione as he did so._

_*_

_Hermione found herself doing everything she could to avoid talking about Draco Malfoy with Harry and Ron. Harry had started thinking Draco was up to something recently and every time he brought it up Hermione did her best to kill his ideas. She felt as though if Harry found out something about Draco and told her she would be cheating. She had to find out things about him by herself and she _would_ succeed._

_With a Potions assignment on her mind she was in the library again, searching for the right book which would help her complete the essay she had to write._

_"Aconite... aconite..." Hermione mumbled to herself as she ran a finger along the books on one of the shelves. She had to write about the properties of aconite and what it was useful for, along with any other interesting facts she could find out._

_Grabbing hold of one of the books, she pulled it out from the shelf and flicked through it quickly before sighing and putting it back. Perhaps she was looking in the wrong section, but she didn't know where else to look!_

_Turning around and heading along the aisle in the opposite direction now, Hermione noticed a book that was pushed in slightly further than the rest, its title hidden from view. She quickened her steps slightly to reach it and took it out, flicking through the pages slowly._

_"Yes!" she muttered with a satisfied smile, taking the book with her as she walked over to a table and sat down. Pulling a quill from her bag and some parchment, she began writing down her findings on aconite._

_Hermione worked hard on her essay for an hour and a half, re-writing sections and smoothing it all out so that it flowed well and connected back to the question in each paragraph. It was only when she looked up to see the library practically empty when she realised how late it was – and also that she was being watched._

_Draco stood in the shadow of a bookshelf, his eyes on her. There was pain on his face and as she looked at him he looked down, clenching his teeth._

_Suddenly worried about what might have happened, Hermione packed her things away and made her way over to him._

_"Draco?" she asked softly, glancing around to make sure no one was watching before looking up at him again._

_"I just... I wanted..." he swallowed and looked around nervously._

_"Do you need something?" Hermione probed gently. _

_Draco's eyes suddenly flicked up to hers again and his expression darkened._

_"No." he said stiffly, pushing past her and walking towards the library exit._

_Sighing, Hermione went over to where she had left her bag on the table and picked it up, making her own way to the door as well. She guessed there would be no meeting between the two of them that night._

_*_

_It was five days until Draco entered the library again and went over to the Dark Arts section, finding Hermione reading a Potions book as she sat on the stool._

_"Do you always wait for me?" he asked as he walked up, startling her._

_"Uh," Hermione shut the book and went slightly red. "I guess. If you ever need help I need to be here, right?"_

_Draco frowned but nodded, folding his arms._

_"So what do you recommend for someone who's stressed about school work?" Draco asked casually, looking away._

_"Well if they came to me about it, I could write them up a timetable of when they need to spend time on each subject and-"_

_"Alright, alright!" Draco chuckled. "I was kidding."_

_Hermione lowered her eyes to the ground, feeling foolish._

_"How's Weasel?" Draco asked._

_"Fine." she mumbled in response. "He's trying out for a position on the quidditch team soon."_

_"Great! I'll finally be able to tease him in the air." Draco smirked and waited for Hermione to say something in response about how he shouldn't say that._

_"Why are you like this?" Hermione asked instead. "Is it the influence from your father?"_

_"I thought I told you-"_

_"-not to offer you advice unless you ask for it. But I'm not giving you advice, am I? I'm just asking a question." Hermione said stubbornly._

_"Yeah, well," Draco shifted uncomfortably. "I don't want to answer it."_

_"You don't have to, I was just wondering." Hermione shrugged and looked down at the book in her lap, wondering what to do next._

_Draco gazed at the books on the shelf beside him and tried to find something interesting about them but couldn't. He soon dropped his gaze to the floor and shoved his hands in his pockets, wanting to be anywhere but here. Why had he come anyway? He hadn't thought she'd still be here, waiting for him._

_"What are your parents like? Being muggles, what are they like?" Draco asked quietly. "Anything like magical parents?"_

_"Well, comparing them to the Weasley's they're definitely like magical parents." Hermione shrugged. "They're really nice, loving, kind. They were so happy when they found out I was magic."_

_"Do they have high expectations for you?" Draco asked awkwardly._

_"They just expect me to be the best that I can be." Hermione said, lifting her chin slightly._

_"So they're really _nothing_ like magical parents." he muttered, digging his shoe into the carpet floor. _

_Hermione frowned but didn't press the subject, fearing that he would yell at her or even pull out his wand and curse her with it._

_"Did you need anything? When you came here..." Hermione asked softly, trailing off and biting her lip nervously._

_Draco glanced up at her before looking down again, his eyebrows furrowed. Hermione found it strange how she hardly ever saw him smirk nowadays, the most common look on his face being pain or confusion. Was that a sign that he was beginning to trust her somewhat?_

_"I haven't told anyone that I'm meeting with you." Hermione continued when Draco didn't answer her previous question. She felt as though she had to keep the conversation going no matter what._

_"I hope not!" Draco snapped angrily, before sighing and turning his back on her. "If my father knew what I was doing..."_

_"Have you finished your Potions homework?" Hermione asked, knowing that Draco wouldn't feel comfortable discussing his father with her just yet. Draco turned back to her, a look of gratitude in his eyes for a moment before he smothered it._

_"Yeah, I did it yesterday." he shrugged. Hermione nodded slowly and looked around for something to hold her attention. She had known it would be difficult helping Draco, but she hadn't thought there would be so many awkward silences!_

_She didn't even know if she was still only in it to help him._

_Swallowing nervously, Hermione hoped Draco wasn't looking at her as she felt her cheeks flame up in embarrassment. How could she have known that getting to know Draco involved noticing how much more handsome he looked?_

_"Well, if there's nothing else you'd like to discuss I think I'd better go." Hermione mumbled, standing up from the stool._

_"Wait-" Draco swallowed nervously as Hermione looked up at him, quickly searching his brain for something to say that was _not_what he was thinking._

_"Don't worry," Hermione said gently. "I'll be here tomorrow night for you to talk to. Even if you only want to talk about the weather." Ducking her head in embarrassment, she made to walk past him._

_Draco shot an arm out to stop her and ended up pulling her into his chest completely by accident. She gasped and looked up at him with wide, innocent and startled eyes, and Draco's eyes also widened as he realised he had just caused their predicament._

_"I'm sorry." he said as he released her and she stepped away from him._

_"It's alright, I... know you didn't mean to." Hermione said quietly, stumbling over her words ever so slightly._

_Draco continued staring down at her, heart pounding, and struggled to remember why it was he had pulled her back in the first place. The answer eluded him, however, only leaving him frustrated and flustered as he couldn't think of anything to say to her._

_"I'm... I'm going now." Hermione mumbled, walking past Draco slowly and carefully, as if it was possible that he would reach out and pull her back again._

_Draco clenched his teeth and remained silent, his face feeling hot as he watched her walk away from him. He didn't attempt to stop her this time, letting her go as he should have done in the first place._

And _that_ was how it began.

**~End Flashback~**


	9. Chapter 8

In The Library

It had been quite a few weeks since Hermione had been in the room of requirement when she walked down to the common room and sat at one of the tables. Ron had made it into the quidditch team as Keeper since then – with Hermione's help of course – and Katie Bell had been cursed by a necklace while they were all out at Hogsmeade.

Hermione knew it had been Draco.

Harry had a hunch.

Pulling out her potions book, Hermione tried to concentrate on doing her work. She hadn't spoken to Draco in such a long time that she wondered whether he had forgotten all about her. The thought worried her and she hoped it wasn't true. He was probably just wound up in his mission.

His dangerous, dangerous mission.

Breathing in a deep, shaky breath, Hermione began to write down some information on what they were currently doing in potions. She felt as though each sentence was incomplete and hardly made sense, but it was all she could do.

The door to the common room suddenly opened and Ron burst through, panting and trying to catch his breath as he hurried over to her. She turned her face away snobbishly, still not quite happy about talking to him.

"Harry-" Ron began and took another breath. He now had Hermione's complete and undivided attention. "He's gone and- and he followed Malfoy and then- he hexed him!"

"What?" Hermione gasped out.

"With a spell he found in his potions book." Ron finished.

"What kind of spell?" Hermione shrieked, standing and causing her books to fall to the floor as she knocked the table. "What did it do?"

"I don't know exactly, all I saw was a lot of blood before Snape said-"

Ron didn't get to finish his sentence before Hermione had dashed past him and was out the door, running straight for the hospital wing where she was certain Draco would be taken. What on earth had Harry been thinking? Had Draco even provoked him at all?

She almost ran into a few people along the way but eventually reached the hospital wing just in time to see Snape disappearing through the door. Harry was following behind awkwardly, a shocked expression on his face. He looked up as Hermione approached and she quickly slowed down to a walk.

_He can't know. You can't go bursting in there fussing over him._

"What did you do?" Hermione asked angrily.

"Hermione I swear I didn't know what it-"

"That doesn't mean you had to try it out on someone!" Hermione yelled. "It could have killed him! And then you would have been a murderer!"

"Excuse me," Snape had appeared at the door and Hermione shut her mouth, trying to calm down. "If you could just be quiet until we get him to sleep I would appreciate that."

"I'm sorry sir." Hermione mumbled. Snape raised an eyebrow before going back inside the hospital wing and shutting the door as if to block out further sounds which they might make despite his warning.

"Harry, I'm _very_ disappointed in you." she hissed at him.

"But you and I both know he was the one who gave the necklace to Katie!" Harry replied in an equally quiet voice.

"You're only assuming!" Hermione groaned. "It could have been anyone else at Hogsmeade that day."

"He attacked me first, anyway!" Harry tried to defend himself.

"I don't care who did what first!" Hermione snapped. "Now simply as a caring Gryffindor I am going to go in there and see whether he's still _alive_."

Turning on her heel, she opened the door and walked inside quietly. Snape looked over at her briefly before looking back down at where Draco lay on the white bed, his clothes stained with blood.

"Is he going to be alright?" Hermione asked softly.

"Yes." Snape said. "But if I hadn't gotten there when I did he wouldn't be with us right now."

Hermione fought the tears which threatened to spill over and thanked Snape over and over again in her mind. She had known someone was going to get hurt eventually, but she hadn't known how bad it was going to be.

"When will he be let out again?" she asked, hoping she didn't sound too emotional.

"Perhaps in a week." Snape shrugged. "Now I suggest you leave so that he may get enough rest and not be disturbed by our voices."

Hermione nodded slowly and walked back towards the door, slipping out and feeling relieved and yet sad that Harry had gone. Walking back towards the Gryffindor common room, she allowed only one tear to slide down her cheek.

*

Two days later Hermione was in a situation quite familiar to her where she had two classes on at the same time. She still had the time turner which had been given to her by Professor Mcgonogall in order to get to all her classes and pulled it from her pocket as she walked out of one classroom, heading towards the next.

Just before she turned it she had a terrifying yet wonderful thought. The class she was going to go back in time for was Ancient Runes and she was already ahead in that class. Perhaps she could miss only one class...

Taking a deep breath and going to a secluded corridor, she turned the time turner back one hour to the time when Ancient Runes would begin. Instead of heading to that classroom, however, she slowly and carefully made her way up to the hospital wing, making sure she didn't accidentally run into herself.

Reaching the door, she looked around nervously before opening it up and stepping inside. She shut the door behind her quietly and looked over to see whether Draco was awake or not.

He was awake, and was staring over at her with wide eyes as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. As she got closer, he glanced over at the far door which led to Madame Pomfreys office.

"I had to see you." Hermione whispered. "I'm so sorry about what happened."

"It doesn't matter." Draco muttered, looking down at his hands which were neatly folded on his lap.

"I'm so worried about you!" Hermione admitted, pulling up a chair and sitting beside his bed.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" Draco asked in annoyance, refusing to look up at her. Hermione sighed and looked down at the time turner which was still in plain view as she had forgotten to tuck it beneath her shirt.

"I am."

"What do you mean?"

"I came back in time one hour to see you. I'm also in class right now." she explained quietly.

Draco looked up at her, his eyes examining her face carefully. He narrowed his eyes slightly in thought and then sighed, looking away again. In that moment he looked really tired and she felt guilty about coming to see him so soon.

"I've never understood you." Draco mumbled, closing his eyes.

"I love you." Hermione said gently. Swallowing nervously, she reached out and took his hand in her own. She found herself holding her breath as if waiting for him to shake her off or yell or something, but he didn't.

"I know." he whispered.

"Why don't you trust me?" Hermione asked slowly, reaching her other hand over to move his hair away from his eyes.

"I still don't know why you wanted to help me in the first place." Draco muttered, clenching his jaw for a moment before relaxing again. Hermione looked away awkwardly and wondered what she could say to him. She didn't want to tell him that her plan from the start had been to pull him over to her side.

"Does it really matter why I wanted to help you? I mean, just look at where that decision has brought us!" Hermione said with a slight smile. She hoped he would see things her way just this once.

"Perhaps I'm too curious for my own good." Draco murmured. "I just don't know how to stop." His eyes were still closed and his forehead was creased slightly. Hermione moved her hand minutely in order to stroke his, trying to let him know without words that everything was alright and she understood him. She wanted to express to him just how much she cared, but wasn't sure what she should do.

Very unsure of what she was suddenly about to do, Hermione slowly bent over him and drew closer to his face. Draco opened his eyes when he felt some of her hair tickle his cheek, staring into her eyes as they were right in front of his own. After a moment he reached a hand up to the back of her head and pulled her down the remaining distance, pressing their lips together tenderly.

Hermione's hand which had been resting on the pillow beside his head after brushing his hair aside moved into his blond strands and tightened, holding on firmly but not enough to hurt him. Their lips moved together as if they had been specifically made for the other and Hermione felt Draco tighten his grip on her hand.

"What's going on here?"

Hermione sat upright so quickly she almost got whiplash. Her eyes were wide in fear as she stared over at Madam Pomfrey standing in the doorway for her office watching them. Draco looked just as shocked as she was from where he was still lying down.

"M-M-Madam Pomfrey!" Hermione squeaked out, blood rushing to her face in embarrassment and terror that word of this would get around and everyone would then find out.

Madam Pomfrey walked over to them with narrowed eyebrows. "Mr Malfoy should not be kissing anyone yet. He's too weak from losing so much blood."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Hermione said quickly, now feeling absolutely terrible about what she had done. Why hadn't she thought about his loss of blood? Of course they shouldn't have kissed again so soon!

"You're not going to tell anyone are you?" Draco asked in a low, threatening voice. Madam Pomfrey looked down at him and frowned slightly.

"Of course not! Not if you don't want me to, anyway." she turned and began walking back to her office, muttering, "Well I never... Mr Malfoy with a Gryffindor!"

Hermione refused to look down at Draco, fearing that he would be upset that she had allowed something like this to happen. She felt absolutely terrible. She should have been more aware of what was going on around her. What if Harry had walked in and seen?

"Hermione..." Draco mumbled, taking hold of her hand again. "I'm not mad."

"I'm so sorry." Hermione said quietly, biting her lip and still not looking at him.

"Kiss me again." Draco hissed, pulling her hand to try and make her move over him once more. Hermione then looked over at him, her eyes wide.

"You heard what she said! You shouldn't be kissing yet!" Hermione scolded.

"Please?" Draco asked gently, a look of sorrow appearing on his face as he stared up at her. She fought to stay strong and say no, but in the next instant she was smiling and leaning down to gently kiss his lips and then pull away again.

"That's all for now." she said. Draco had closed his eyes and left them like that, a slight smile on his face.

"You'd better go before you drive me stark raving mad." he teased.

"I have to use up the entire hour! If I go back now..." Hermione trailed off and pictured herself walking into Ancient Runes late. At least she could just have a private word with her professor and lie about getting the time wrong with her time turner.

"I know you've just thought up a plan. Whenever you do you purse your lips and look completely kissable." Draco said, bringing her out of her thoughts. She blushed and squeezed his hand gently.

"Alright then, I'll come back again to see you tomorrow." she promised.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hey guys, just a quick and important note. I have a feeling I've gotten some of the events muddled around, such as when this happens in relation to when they're learning how to apparate. I don't own the books so I can't check every time I want to find something out, so if someone could help me out and let me know which order these things actually go in?

I'm really sorry if some of you get really annoyed by the muddle, but I won't be changing it now. Not after I took so long on each chapter... haha.

Anyway, thanks heaps guys!


	10. Chapter 9

In the Library

Hermione felt as though everyone was watching her, although as she continued to glance over her shoulder and check she confirmed that no one was. She was breaking a rule again today and she couldn't even begin to imagine what Professor McGonogall would say if she ever found out.

To use her time turner for anything other than getting to all her different classes was something she had been specifically told not to do and if anyone ever found out she would be in a lot of trouble. Managing to convince her Ancient Runes Professor that she had gotten the time on her time turner wrong had ended up being a difficult task as her Professor pointed out that she had already been using it for five years previous.

Glancing over her shoulder again, Hermione pushed the doors to the Hospital Wing open and walked in.

She was met with a gut-wrenching sight and had to do her best not to hurl immediately. She felt unwanted tears spring to her eyes and all the air rushed out of her lungs. Draco was lying on his hospital bed kissing Pansy Parkinson.

Parkinson slowly raised her head, smiling down at Draco. Then she looked up, noticing Hermione, and raised an eyebrow.

"Want something?" she asked obnoxiously.

It was then that Draco too noticed her presence in the room, his eyes widening as he pushed himself into a sitting position quickly.

"I... someone told me Ron had been sent here... that's all." Hermione mumbled, glancing at Draco one more time before turning and walking from the room.

Surely there was a perfectly good reason for it. Perhaps Parkinson had kissed him without his consent. Maybe he had been forced to do it. What if Parkinson had used Imperius!?

Hermione took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm herself down and also make the wetness in her eyes go away. The next time she saw him he would explain everything and there would be nothing to worry about any more.

Oh for goodness sake, he was a Slytherin! Who was she kidding?

Running her hands through her hair in distress, Hermione paced. She didn't know what to do about the situation she was in. She couldn't even talk to anyone about it because no one knew! So what could she possibly do?

_I need to keep a level head. We aren't even dating! So technically he wasn't cheating on me. Yes, that's it._

Unfortunately, Hermione was terrible at convincing herself to believe something which she didn't know for certain.

So – upset and hurt – Hermione made her slow way to the Gryffindor common room. She would use the remainder of the hour that she had gained by going back in time to get some rest and hopefully put all these horrible thoughts from her mind.

*

~Earlier~

Pansy walked into the hospital wing with a bounce in her step, smiling at Draco as she approached him. Both of his eyebrows were raised in curiosity and he propped himself up on his elbows slightly as she slid into a chair beside his bed.

"Hey, Drakie!" she greeted him, reaching out a hand to take his. She sighed dreamily as she stared into his eyes.

"What brings you here, Pansy?" he asked awkwardly.

"I had to see whether you were okay or not!" she exclaimed, acting hurt that he had to ask. "I care about you so much."

"Clearly. So what do you want?" Draco asked, wanting to cut straight down to business and find out why she really was there. Pansy pouted slightly and leant towards him.

"You're always so short with me nowadays! What happened to our relationship?" she asked quietly.

"Pansy, we've never been an item if that's what you're suggesting." Draco sighed, staring at a fixed mark across the other side of the room. Pansy gasped loudly and leant back again, a look of horror plain on her face.

"Don't say such a thing! I know you don't mean it. Come on, Drakie, you don't have to hide your feelings for me!" she gushed out, now stroking the side of his face as well. "I'm perfect for you and you know it. Your parents approve of me, too!"

"I'm not in the mood to date anyone, Pansy." Draco sighed.

Pansy stopped stroking his face and narrowed her eyes, tilting her head slightly. She was silent for quite a while and Draco began to wonder just what _was_ going on in her head. He had never wondered such a thing before but in that moment he was utterly intrigued.

"Why are you lying to me?" she asked in a low, threatening voice.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked with a frown.

Pansy abruptly stood up, anger on her face as she glared down at him. "I know you're seeing someone! Alright? You can't hide it! Why can't you just tell me you're already in a relationship rather than tell me you don't want to date anyone? You're a lying idiot and I hate you!"

Draco was stunned into silence for a few seconds as he took in what she had said, and yet the only thought that entered his mind then was – _how many others have noticed?_

"Pansy, what are you talking about?" he asked slowly. "I'm not seeing anyone else. I promise."

"You... promise?" Pansy asked, taking a deep breath and fighting back tears.

"Absolutely." he nodded. "I don't know what gave you such an idea."

Pansy bit her lip and sat back down, staring at her hands as she thought. "I'm in love with you, Draco. Not because my parents want me to marry you but because _I_ want to!"

"Pansy, you can't know that! How do you know what real love is?" Draco retorted. He felt exhausted – he seemed to be talking about love with girls a lot lately.

"If you're not going out with anyone..." Pansy paused and then smirked slightly. "Then it should be fine if I do this."

Before Draco had a chance to react or even think of what she could have been referring to, she had leant towards him and pressed a kiss to his lips, putting a hand on the side of his face. Draco felt his eyes flicker shut and he kissed her back gently, thinking that perhaps she'd leave him alone after this. Surely all she'd wanted in the first place was to kiss him?

When Pansy pulled away slowly, he kept his eyes closed for a few more moments.

"Want something?" Pansy asked, in a tone of voice that was suddenly so different it made Draco's eyes snap open instantly. Noticing that Pansy wasn't looking at him, he glanced over to see Hermione standing in the doorway, eyes wide as she stared at the both of them.

He hurriedly pushed himself into a sitting position, feeling an immense sick feeling building up in his chest.

"I... someone told me Ron had been sent here... that's all." Hermione mumbled, glancing at Draco quickly before spinning around and disappearing from the room again.

_You totally just blew it, _Draco thought to himself.

"Funny, she looked like she was about to cry..." Pansy said thoughtfully, trailing off. Draco tried to swallow calmly, feeling his body begin to tremble.

"She must've... thought the Weasel was badly hurt or something." Draco said, thinking that that would have been something he would say in a normal situation.

"Yeah, or..." Pansy frowned in thought and then looked back down at him for a moment before her eyes widened in shock and she stood up quickly. "You lying-!" She didn't get all the words out before she choked on a sob and tears came pouring from her eyes.

"Pansy – Pansy stop crying!" Draco said desperately, reaching over to her. She jerked away from him and he was forced to sit there watching her shake and sob.

"You – you'd rather _her_ than _me_!?" Pansy gasped out.

Draco felt as if the worst possible scenario he could think of had just unfolded before his eyes. He could not think of anything else which could make him feel worse than he felt right now.

"Pansy, please listen to me! You're assuming!" he said pathetically, his voice sounding small and insignificant even to his own ears.

"What do you _see_ in her?" Pansy screamed at him, causing him to flinch backwards. "And don't you know you'll be disowned if it gets out? You have to dump her! Oh my gosh, this hurts so _much_!"

Draco couldn't think of a single thing to say to her. She was right. He would be disowned and then where would that get him? Nowhere. Because Hermione would rather dump him than hurt her friends. He was sure of it.

But they hadn't even been _dating_ had they? It had never been spoken aloud, so perhaps he could defend himself with that? And why was he even thinking about giving everything up for her?

"Pansy, please just-"

"I _hate_ you!" Pansy screamed, running to the door and slipping out. Draco heard her sobs fade into the distance and hoped desperately that she wasn't going to tell anyone and would only cry about it for a while.

Sighing, he lay back down and suddenly realised he was incredibly exhausted again. Madam Pomfrey had warned him that too much excitement could be a setback and it looked like that had just happened. He was amazed Madam Pomfrey hadn't come running from her office to find out what was going on.

Closing his eyes to try and get some rest, Draco wondered whether he would _ever_ make it out of this mess.


	11. Chapter 10

In the Library

Draco had been out of the hospital wing for four days when Hermione found him in the Room of Requirement. She had slipped in quietly through the door and approached cautiously, wondering whether he would get angry at her for showing up again or not.

But she wasn't going to entirely avoid him. She had made a promise she was planning to keep.

"Um, D- Malfoy?" she asked tentatively, not sure what to call him any more.

Obviously not expecting her, he spun around in shock and stumbled back into the cabinet. His wide eyes showed his disbelief and confusion, making Hermione feel sorry for him and wish she had stayed away.

"What are you doing here?" Draco snapped, clenching his teeth afterwards in annoyance at himself. Why did he always have to come across as angry?

"You see, um..." Hermione swallowed nervously. "I promised I was going to help you."

"Oh, right." Draco mumbled, stepping away from the cabinet slightly and lowering his eyes.

"I- I also wanted to let you know that whatever is going on between yourself and Pansy Parkinson is _none_ of my business." Hermione rushed out, biting her lip after. Should she have said that?

"That was a lie if ever I heard one." Draco scoffed, turning back to the cabinet and fiddling with the handle.

"Well if it really concerns me so much, why did you do it?" Hermione asked angrily. Her fury came bubbling to the surface and she had to look away from him to try and calm down.

"I was in a hospital bed! I couldn't really say no, could I? And besides," he added, pausing and half looking over his shoulder. "Who ever said we were-" Apparently choking on the words, he stopped there and turned his attention to the cabinet once again.

"Sometimes those sorts of things don't need to be said to be true." Hermione said in a low voice.

"Anyway, like I said, I had no choice in the matter." Draco shrugged.

"Are you saying you didn't want to kiss her?" Hermione pressed curiously, trying to sound casual.

"No." Draco said firmly. "For goodness sake, she's a girl! Of course I wanted to kiss her."

Hermione felt her chest tighten and did her best not to make a sound which would alert him to her pain. She was having trouble connecting words together, but one question kept appearing in her mind and it was the only coherent thing there was, so she said it.

"So when you kissed me... it was only because I was a girl?" she asked quietly, her vision blurring from tears which had begun forming.

"So what if it was?" Draco asked gruffly, refusing to turn and look at her. He was worried what he would see, knowing that if she was crying he would want to apologise and take her into his arms again.

But he couldn't do that. He had to end this before Pansy started spreading rumours. That way when anyone tried to investigate they wouldn't find any evidence.

"Then hurry up and let me help you fix this _stupid_ cabinet so I can get out of here." Hermione hissed, wiping her sleeve across her eyes quickly.

It was then that Draco made the mistake of turning to look at her. The first thing he saw was her blood-shot eyes, still moist with tears. Next he saw her glare which was directed straight at him and lastly he saw the way she was gently biting part of her lower lip, causing him to involuntarily open his mouth and stare.

A loud bang interrupted both of their thoughts and Hermione spun around in terror, fearing the worst. Draco took two quick steps forward and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her back into his chest protectively, something which she did not try to stop.

"There's something I haven't told you," Draco whispered right next to her ear, making her shiver.

"What's that?" Hermione whispered back, her hands moving up to grip his, which were still on her shoulders.

"Pansy knows."

Hermione gasped and tightened her grip on his hands, her entire body becoming tense with fear.

"How?" she asked almost inaudibly.

"After you came in... she figured out why you were upset." Draco explained quietly. "I thought I should let you know before she comes barging in here."

"_She's_ outside?" Hermione gasped.

"I heard Crabbe telling her this was the place I always went when I disappeared. I can only assume she's come to try and find me now." Draco told her.

Hermione was silent for a moment as her terrified mind tried to think of what she could do. The next moment she had turned to face him and kissed him quickly.

"Hide me." she whispered pleadingly.

Taking her hand, Draco looked around for somewhere to hide her. His eyes paused on the cabinet and he felt his heart jump in excitement. He hadn't finished fixing it yet, so it would be the perfect place to hide her while he spoke to Pansy and explained that he wasn't involved with Hermione in any way.

"Do you trust me?" he asked suddenly, staring into her eyes seriously.

"Yes." Hermione nodded minutely, swallowing.

Draco nodded slowly and then moved over to the cabinet, opening the door and half pushing her inside.

"Draco, what are y-"

"It's not fixed yet! Nothing will happen." he assured her as she turned around to face him again. There was worry on her face and Draco couldn't help chuckling. Spontaneously he leant up and kissed her again before shutting the cabinet door.

It was time to face Pansy Parkinson.

Walking towards the door to the Room of Requirement, Draco fixed an annoyed expression on his face. He was already running words through his mind of what to say to her and knew it wouldn't take much to convince her that nothing was going on.

Reaching the door, he opened it just in time to see Pansy raising her fist again to knock loudly. She paused when she saw him and he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?" he asked in a bored tone.

"What are you doing here?" Pansy asked accusingly, lowering her hand to her hip and narrowing her eyes.

"Ask Zabini." Draco said shortly, moving to close the door. Pansy put a hand out to stop it and stepped forward.

"I did. He said you won't tell him." Pansy said. She glanced past him into the room and then looked back at him. "She's here, isn't she?"

"The mudblood? You're kidding, right?" Draco scoffed.

"Let me in, then." Pansy pushed forward, pressing right up against his chest to make him move backwards.

"I never said I wouldn't." He grumbled, shoving her away from him into the room and shutting the door again. "Take a good look around and tell me if you find her. Maybe we can have a bit of fun if you do."

Pansy seemed doubtful, but walked further into the room anyway. Her eyes took in the countless objects all shoved together disorderly and she wondered what on earth Draco could have been doing in here.

"Try not to take too long." Draco sighed, following after her slowly to pretend he was uninterested in what was happening.

Pansy paused to open every object which had a door, and Draco began wondering whether he should have put Hermione in the cabinet after all. If Pansy kept up like this she'd discover her and everything would be out in the open.

"Why can't you tell me what you were doing in here?" Pansy asked in a whiny voice as she opened another small door – far too small to contain a teenage girl, but Draco didn't feel like pointing that out right now.

"It's secret." he shrugged.

"Why?" Pansy probed, glancing over her shoulder as she moved on.

"Are you really that stupid? As soon as I said it was secret you should have realised it wasn't something I thought up myself." Draco sighed. Pansy froze and slowly turned around to face him, her eyes now wide in shock.

"He let you join? _And_ he gave you a mission?" she whispered.

Draco couldn't help smirking, folding his arms and nodding slowly. It was a wonderful feeling to have someone so impressed by something he had managed to do. Of course, he was the first person his age to _ever_ be accepted as a Death Eater so there was no wonder why Pansy was impressed.

"What's your mission?" Pansy whispered excitedly.

"I can't tell you." Draco said shortly, turning away and fiddling with a random object that faced him. Pansy let out a sigh of disappointment but then continued on, searching more doors.

When she reached the cabinet, Draco could barely conceal his concern.

"Look, isn't that enough?" he asked hurriedly, moving over to her as she began walking towards the cabinet. "I'm doing a mission for the Dark Lord in here, so could you please leave? I have to finish it soon or he'll get really angry."

Pansy glanced up at him, wide-eyed, but then she frowned and turned back to the cabinet. Draco took a deep breath involuntarily and held it, waiting for the inevitable moment where she would open the cabinet, find Hermione, and start screaming again.

Pansy reached a hand forward and grasped the handle, turning it. Draco shut his eyes tightly and in an instant did the only thing he could think of. He gripped his wand and murmured the spell which he had been using to try and send object through the cabinet to its twin in Borgin and Bourkes.

"That's disappointing. It's the perfect size and I really hoped I had finally found where you were hiding her."

Draco slowly opened his eyes and looked into the empty cabinet. Pansy was still staring into it as well, her eyebrows furrowed in thought.

_Time to convince her I don't like Granger,_ he thought to himself, and put an arm around her shoulders, leaning close to her ear.

"Look Pansy, if you leave now I promise I'll meet up with you tonight." he whispered, softly kissing her neck. She shivered and backed into his chest, gripping his arms with her hands.

"You promise?" she asked quietly. Draco chuckled and kissed her neck again.

"Only if you leave and let me continue with my mission." he reminded her and she hurriedly nodded.

"What time?" she asked excitedly.

Draco was silent for a moment, a smirk on his lips, and Pansy spun around to look at him as if she was afraid he had suddenly changed his mind.

"How about I surprise you?" he whispered, leaning down and kissing her lips. Pansy murmured an agreement, her eyes closed, when Draco pulled back and gave her a gentle push towards the door.

"See you tonight." he told her, thankful that Hermione was in Borgin and Bourkes now instead of a few steps away in the cabinet. She would never forgive him for this, even if he explained that it was unavoidable.

When Pansy slipped out of the door with a wink at him, he sighed in relief and turned back to the cabinet, shutting it. He lifted his wand again and whispered the incantation, hoping beyond hope that Hermione was still alive and had been smart enough to stay inside the cabinet at all times.

Biting his lip nervously, he reached out and opened the cabinet.

Immediately a blur of brown hair lunged at him and he felt two arms go around him and hold tightly. He grinned and put his own arms around her as well, glad that she had survived.

In fact, he was more than glad. He had fixed it! It worked! She was still alive!

"It worked!" He heard Hermione whisper, and she sounded just as excited as him. "I'm so glad you tried it out, I was hoping you would! While I was in there I did a bit of adjusting and thought I'd figured out what the problem was so I fixed it."

Great, the mudblood fixed it. So much for his amazing abilities.

"I hoped you wouldn't be mad at me." he said with a small chuckle.

"Of course not! When I heard Parkinson coming I knew you'd probably try that, so I wanted to fix it quickly so that you wouldn't feel guilty if it didn't work." Hermione slowly pulled back from him, her face lit up in excitement and happiness.

"You have no idea how much you've helped me." Draco said quietly, a smile on his lips as he moved one hand to gently caress her cheek. She leant into his hand, also smiling, until suddenly her expression grew grave and she swallowed stiffly, stepping away.

"When are they going to come?" she asked quietly. Draco stiffened as well when he realised what she was talking about and silently cursed himself for forgetting that she wasn't on his side.

Oh, and there was still the issue of Pansy.

"Whenever I inform them that it's finished." he whispered.

"And when are you going to tell them?" Hermione asked cautiously. Draco wet his lips nervously with his tongue and looked away from her.

"I- I can't wait too long. But maybe a few days will be alright." he said, swallowing.

"I don't want you to get hurt." Hermione murmured, sadness in her eyes when he looked back over at her.

"What happened to you being upset about me kissing Pansy?" he asked, a bit too harshly for his liking.

"I still don't like it..." she whispered. "But if you promise you didn't have a choice?"

"I promise." Draco nodded, feeling his heart constrict as he thought about when he would be meeting Pansy that night. There was no way he would be able to talk his way out of it again, but how would he keep it from Hermione when Pansy would then want to go public with their relationship?

"Then I'm sorry for getting mad," Hermione said with a small smile. "I'll try not to assume next time."

Draco pulled her towards him and hugged her, closing his eyes. He didn't want to hurt her but it was inevitable, as was their future of not being together. There was no way that would work out, so they would have to cherish their time together now.

Which was probably going to be only a few days. After he brought the Death Eaters he would have to leave Hogwarts and Hermione would never want to speak to him ever again.

He had failed to explain his entire mission to her. She wouldn't want to know.

It was better to keep her in the dark.

It meant he would have a few more days of her love.


	12. Chapter 11

In the Library

"Hey, Malfoy!"

Draco turned when he heard his name and saw Blaise, Flint and Pansy standing near the fire. Pansy was looking stubborn and the two boys looked doubtful. Sighing, he made his way over to them.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Parkinson says you finally, how did she put it? 'Realised you deeply loved her and had agreed to go out'." Blaise said, glancing at Pansy again. Her facial expression hadn't changed.

"So what would you like to know?" Draco asked, folding his arms. Blaise and Flint exchanged a glance of shock.

"You mean it's true?" Flint asked.

"So what if it is? Are you jealous?" Draco reached over and took Pansy's hand, pulling her closer to his side slightly.

Now smiling triumphantly, Pansy held his hand tightly and glared at Blaise and Flint. Draco didn't blame them for being shocked. He had told them many times that he would never consider her.

"Look, I have to go finish up some homework," Draco mumbled, turning to Pansy. "I won't forget to surprise you though, alright?"

Pansy sighed happily and nodded. "I love you, Drakie."

"I love you too, Pansy." Draco said, kissing her forehead. "See you later tonight."

Letting go of her hand slowly, he smirked and made his way to his dormitory, where he then proceeded to pull out as much homework as he could find. The more he had to do, the longer it would be until he had to pretend to love her again.

*

"Have either of you noticed how smug Malfoy looks recently? I think he's nearing the completion of whatever he's been planning." Harry said as he, Ron and Hermione sat at a table in the common room with their work out in front of them.

Hermione remained silent, pretending that she was absorbed in her work.

"Now that you mention it, I have noticed that." Ron said thoughtfully. "Did you hear what people have been saying? They think the necklace which cursed Katie Bell was meant for Dumbledore."

Hermione's quill paused in writing and she swallowed nervously. The cursed necklace had completely slipped her mind. Draco had told her he had to bring the Death Eaters into the castle, but he hadn't said anything about what they would be doing after that. Why hadn't she thought of it and questioned him?

"At least he's too stupid to succeed in anything, so we don't have to worry about anyone dying." Ron shrugged.

Hermione's heart pounded in her chest and she felt like she couldn't breathe. Would Draco really try and kill Dumbledore? Surely not?

But if that was his mission... and he would be killed if he didn't do it...

No. She still didn't think he would. He wouldn't kill.

"Hermione?"

With a start, she looked up at Harry and Ron to see them staring at her. They looked worried and she swallowed nervously, hoping they wouldn't figure out what she was thinking just by looking at her face.

"I'm fine." she said quickly.

Harry frowned as he stared at her, obviously not believing what she said. She stared back at him defiantly for a few moments before he then sighed and closed his book.

"What do you know that we don't know?" he asked.

"I don't know anything!" Hermione rushed out, biting her lip and looking away from him.

"I can tell you're keeping something from us." Harry said angrily. "Why don't you want to tell us? For goodness sake, Hermione, all year it's felt as if you've been trying to protect him! And you still haven't told me the truth about what happened in the Room of Requirement!"

Hermione looked back over at him, her eyes wide in horror. She supposed she should have known they would notice something, seeing as Pansy Parkinson had noticed something going on with Draco.

But she wasn't prepared for it. She didn't know what to say or how to get out of it.

"I'm going to the library." she said quickly, slamming her books shut and shoving them in her bag before standing and hurriedly leaving the common room. Her gut twisted and she hoped she would be able to think up a good excuse for them later.

*

When Draco made his way down to the common room a few hours later he wasn't surprised to see Pansy sitting in front of the fire. She turned as she heard something and her eyes lit up when she saw it was him. In an instant she was by his side.

"So what have you got planned?" she asked quietly, stroking his face softly.

"I thought I'd let you decide where we go." he said with a chuckle. "You should feel honoured."

"Oh, I do." Pansy said quickly, a smirk on her lips now. For some reason it worried Draco and he began wondering what _she_ had planned.

"So where would you like to go?" he asked.

"How about the library?" she asked, raising her eyebrows curiously. Immediately Draco knew she was still trying to figure out if he was involved with Hermione, so he hid his true emotions.

"Sounds perfect." he said, kissing her cheek.

"Wonderful!" Pansy exclaimed, grabbing his hand and making for the common room door. Draco laughed, actually finding her behaviour somewhat amusing.

When they reached the library and walked in, Draco tried to discreetly see whether Hermione was anywhere around. Pansy kept glancing at him, however, so he had to keep smiling and acting as if she was the only thing on his mind.

"Draco, can I kiss you right here?" Pansy asked suddenly, spinning around to face him. They were standing at about the middle of the library near a long table where many people were sitting reading books and working. Obviously she wanted to have the best chance at Hermione seeing if she was in here.

"Wouldn't it be more romantic if it was somewhere like..." Draco lowered his voice and leant down to her ear. "the restricted section?"

Pansy shivered, finding the suggestion quite tempting, but shook her head.

"I want everyone to know you're mine." she said, quickly moving her head and kissing his lips.

_Screwed_, was the only thing he could think from that moment after.

As Pansy ran her hands across his back, Draco suddenly hissed as if in pain and pushed her back. Her eyes widened in shock, wondering why he was rejecting her now.

"Drakie?" she asked softly.

"Quiet." he hissed, glancing around to see if anyone was watching. He silently congratulated himself on his amazing plan, fighting hard not to just smirk right then and there.

"What's going on?" she whispered in worry.

"I have to go." he said.

"Why?" Pansy's voice had gotten slightly louder again and Draco shot a glare at her.

"If you must know," he muttered, and lifted his left arm slightly. "I have to go speak to someone."

Pansy looked as though she was about to faint in terror.

"It's _him_?" she asked.

"Yes." Draco nodded, glancing around again. "He can contact us through our... you know. Anyway, I'm really sorry, but I have to go somewhere quiet. If I ignore him he'll punish me."

"Then go!" Pansy exclaimed quickly, shoving him. She obviously didn't want him to be punished.

"Thank you for understanding." Draco said with a small smile, before turning and heading to the very back of the library.

*

Hermione was pacing up and down the Dark Arts aisle, wringing her hands together nervously and wondering what she would say to Harry and Ron the next time she saw them, when suddenly a figure turned into the aisle and they almost ran into each other.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" Hermione said, quickly stepping back. She looked up and gasped, seeing Draco looking down at her in shock.

They were silent for a moment, before Draco let out a sigh and slumped against one of the bookshelves. He was not about to admit it, but he was glad she was here and not out somewhere she would have seen what had happened between Pansy and him.

"Are you alright?" he asked when he noticed her trembling.

"Yeah, it's just that-" Hermione frowned slightly, worried. "Harry's been asking me questions."

"For example?" Draco asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"He wants to know what I'm not telling him..." Hermione looked down again.

"Don't worry," Draco said, putting a hand out on her shoulder. "He won't find out."

"But Pansy found out!" Hermione protested and Draco flinched at the name. "Although you've done a wonderful job at convincing her she's wrong, I don't think I'll be able to hide this from Harry for much longer!"

"You can't tell him!" Draco said angrily.

"Tell me what?"

Hermione barely stopped herself from screaming, spinning around and staring at Harry who was slowly walking towards them.

"N-nothing." Hermione mumbled, fighting the urge to step back into Draco's warm, safe arms. If she did that it would be the equivalent of yelling the truth in Harry's face.

"I knew you were helping him, Hermione." Harry said quietly, pain in his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me? You must have a reason. Let's talk about this."

"There's nothing to say." Hermione said firmly. She felt a hand on her back and was thankful for Draco's comfort, which he was giving to her in such a way that Harry wouldn't know.

"Why don't you start with what you're helping him do?" Harry asked.

"I'm not helping him!" Hermione snapped, beginning to lose her cool.

"Then what is it? What else could you possibly be talking about that you can't tell me?" Harry asked.

"In case you hadn't gotten message yet, Potter," Draco spoke up. "She can't tell you."

"Stay out of this!" Harry said.

"I'm more a part of this than you are!" Draco growled, stepping past Hermione but stopping when she grabbed his arm.

"How? And why?" Harry asked. "I want answers!"

"Granger, I'll see you later." Draco said, glancing back at her and then over at Harry again before turning and beginning to walk away.

Hermione was still holding his arm and tightened her grip as he tried to pull away.

"Don't go." she whispered.

"I'll come back once you've sorted this out." he said stiffly.

"I'll tell him if you leave." she threatened quietly, and at that Draco turned to look at her over his shoulder again.

"Are you really going to listen to her, Malfoy?" Harry asked, folding his arms. It was clear he wanted him to leave so that Hermione would tell him what was going on.

"Shut up, Potter." Draco growled, stepping closer to Hermione again.

"Don't leave." Hermione whispered again.

"What is _with_ you two?" Harry asked, frowning as he watched them stare at each other.

"Tell him then, Hermione." Draco said quietly.

"You're leaving." she swallowed and looked down at the ground.

"First names all of a sudden?" Harry spat out.

"I'm staying." Draco said, reaching out and touching the side of her face carefully. Harry flinched and took a step forward, apparently thinking Draco was about to snap her neck or something.

"Harry," Hermione said quietly. "You can't tell anyone, but... but I love him."

"Someone please take me to St Mungo's." Harry whimpered.

"Gladly, but would you like me to give you a reason to be there first?" Draco asked, turning his icy gaze on him.

"Draco, don't!" Hermione said quickly.

"Hermione, what's he done to you?" Harry asked. "What has he made _you_ do?"

For a moment, Hermione was silenced by the knowledge that she had helped him with the cabinet which would bring Death Eaters into the castle, but then she clenched her teeth and lifted her chin slightly.

"He hasn't done anything to me. He's been nothing but kind." she said firmly. Harry would have almost believed her because of how sincere she sounded if it weren't for the scoff that came from Draco.

"It looks like you're the only one who thinks that." Harry commented.

"You wouldn't be surprised if I'd given her a love potion, would you?" Draco asked with a chuckle.

"No, I wouldn't." Harry replied.

"Stop this!" Hermione said, frustrated. "Let's all just go back to our common rooms and forget about this."

"I haven't heard him say he loves you. Until he does, I'm not moving." Harry said.

"Great, you can stay here and we'll leave then." Draco said, putting a hand on Hermione's shoulder to guide her out.

"So you don't love her! I knew it! Hermione, don't you see? He's using you!" Harry called after them. She paused and turned back to look at him, sorrow in her eyes.

"Come on." Draco said, trying to make her start walking again.

"Why won't you say it?" she asked softly.

"Hermione we don't have time for this-"

"Say it!" Hermione snapped. "Or are you still in that phase where you don't even believe _me_?"

"Don't be stupid!" Draco growled.

"Harry's right." Hermione muttered.

"No he's not! Come on!" Draco grabbed her arm firmly and attempted to pull her away, but she jerked back, her eyes flashing angrily.

"Let me go!" she ordered, and Draco promptly dropped his arm to his side and stepped back. He knew it was a mistake to tell Potter about them.

"Hermione, let's go." Harry said softly, reaching out a hand for her. She stared at Draco for a few more moments, a small glimmer of hope in her eyes, before she blinked to extinguish it and turned to Harry, taking his hand.

"I love you Hermione." Draco said suddenly.

"He's lying and you know it." Harry said softly.

"I love you. I'll let you smash the cabinet." he whispered. Hermione spun around, letting go of Harry's hand.

"But you'll-"

"Die. I know." Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"What?" Harry asked angrily. "The cabinet in Borgin and Bourkes?"

"In a way, yes." Draco nodded.

"No, Draco! I never would!" Hermione said, moving over to him again. "Don't say such things!"

"At least now you know I'm serious." he said quietly. "Now are you coming?"

"Hermi-"

"Yes." Hermione took his hand and smiled, walking with him away from the Dark Arts section.

"People are going to see!" Harry called out, following after them.

"Let them see." Draco muttered, shocking Hermione.

"Draco..."

"I love you."


	13. Chapter 12

Hermione could feel the eyes on her as she walked slightly behind Draco through the library to the door. Their hands were still tightly holding onto the other and Draco kept glancing back at her every few steps as they got closer to the door.

It was when Pansy Parkinson looked up from talking casually with a friend that Draco squeezed Hermione's hand even tighter and she could immediately feel the tension in his body.

"_Draco!?_" Pansy screeched so loudly that everyone in the entire library shut up. If there was a single person who hadn't noticed Draco and Hermione holding hands before they definitely knew it now.

Draco slowed to a stop but kept his eyes fixed on the door which was about ten steps further ahead. Hermione wished they could just continue and escape out but for some reason she felt as though Draco had something which he had to sort out with Pansy. Whatever that was she didn't think she'd ever know, but she wasn't about to go pulling him through that door without him giving her his consent first.

"Parkinson." Draco said in a low voice as the Slytherin girl advanced slowly, her eyes wide in shock and pain.

"You said... you said you loved me." Pansy whispered. "You let your friends think you loved me. You kissed me."

Hermione fought to push her jealousy away, knowing that she shouldn't be worrying about something as trivial as a kiss between him and Pansy when he had just gone walking through a library in full view of everyone whilst holding her hand.

In fact, thinking about that again brought a smile to her face.

"And you!" Pansy snapped, her voice louder now and her gaze turned towards Hermione. "You filthy, mudblood, boyfriend stealer!" she accused.

"She didn't steal me from you, Pansy. I've been with her for-" Draco stopped looked away slightly, his eyebrows furrowed. Pansy was holding her breath waiting for the answer and Hermione thought she might begin to turn purple if she didn't take a breath soon. It didn't seem like Draco was going to speak again.

"Quite some time now." Hermione said softly.

"But Draco-" Pansy blurted, ignoring Hermione although taking her words in. "What about your mission?"

"Shut up!" Draco spat, spinning and stepping towards her, letting go of Hermione's hand in an instant. "Have you forgotten we're in a library with everyone staring at us and listening? You think you can go around shouting things like that without suffering the consequences?"

"I'm sorry!" Pansy whimpered, her eyes slowly becoming moist.

"That doesn't cut it." Draco growled. "Now get lost before I hex you."

Pansy stared up at him with wide eyes for a few moments longer and only finally moved away when Draco raised his wand and pointed it at her throat. The tears began leaking from her eyes now and she rushed out the door without looking back.

Draco put his wand back in his pocket and turned to Hermione, his expression hard and cold. He stared at her silently for a moment and Hermione thought she saw a flicker of worry in his gaze before it was gone. Was he worried she would be angry with him?

"Draco-"

"Are you going to give up your mission for her, Malfoy?" Harry suddenly asked, standing to the side with his arms folded. The glare on his face plainly informed everyone of his dislike of their relationship.

"That's none of your business." Draco snapped angrily.

"You know she'll leave you if you go ahead with it." Harry said, his words cutting into Draco likes knives. But he had already come to terms with this information and although Hermione looked worried as soon as Harry had said it, Draco simply shrugged.

"Some things can't be avoided." he stated.

Suddenly the door to the library burst open and Professor Snape stood there, his eyes wide in horror as he took in the scene. Draco's fierce appearance crumbled in an instant and he backed away, his mouth falling open. Pansy was barely visible standing behind Snape, still crying.

"Mr Malfoy, come with me _now_." Snape growled in an almost inaudible voice. Hermione wanted to take Draco's hand and squeeze it reassuringly but she didn't dare, for fear that he would only be more upset because Snape would see it.

Why was he so upset that Snape was watching, anyway? Sure, he was the head of the Slytherin house, but what did that mean to Draco that had him almost cowering in the corner in fear?

Taking a few shaky steps, Draco made his way towards Snape, who kept staring at him as if he had done the worst possible thing in the world.

"Wait-" Hermione suddenly burst out, taking a few hurried steps forward before freezing again. She had no idea what to say, but now Draco had turned to her and Snape was looking at her as well. "I... I want to come." she stuttered.

"You can't." Draco whispered.

"Why not?" she asked sadly, looking into his eyes and wishing they could stay frozen like that forever. His grey eyes for mesmerising and made her forget about everything else for a moment.

"Mr Malfoy is right. What I need to say to him is private." Snape said, his voice still low. "Now if you'll excuse us."

Draco turned away from Hermione's gaze once again and looked down at the ground sadly, his shoulders sagging as he walked from the library after Snape, leaving Hermione behind to stare. It was only when she turned around again that she noticed everyone was still staring at her.

Including Harry.


	14. Chapter 13

Harry and Hermione were sitting in a corner of the common room after having left the library so they could talk privately. Ron wasn't anywhere to be seen yet and Hermione was secretly glad – it meant he would remain oblivious for a bit longer.

"Hermione, how did it happen?" Harry asked gently. "How did he manage to convince you that he wasn't a bad person?"

"He just acted like himself." Hermione muttered, fighting back tears. "I thought if I got to know him better I might be able to help him. I never thought I'd actually fall for him!"

"When did it all start?" Harry asked.

"Close to the beginning of the year, a few days before the quidditch try-outs." Hermione told him and then swallowed nervously.

"Well... you definitely haven't forgotten it." Harry chuckled.

"I'm sorry I got so mad at you every time you mentioned him. But Harry, he's been so upset! All year he's been trying to carry out his mission and it's killing him!" Hermione turned to look at Harry, pain in her eyes. "If he doesn't do what he's been told to, then he'll be killed. But if he _does_ then I fear he'll kill _himself_."

Harry was silent for a few moments as he thought about what he had just been told. His first instinct was to hope that Malfoy did end up dead, but seeing Hermione looking so distraught over the issue forced him to rethink. How could he stop her from thinking about the Slytherin?

"Hermione, what about Ron?" Harry asked gently.

"What about him?" Hermione snapped. "He's got Lavender, why would he care about me?"

"I always thought he liked you, that's all." Harry shrugged before falling silent again. Hermione sniffed and turned her face away slightly, not wanting to think about Ron right now. She already had enough to worry about without thinking her best friend had a crush on her.

"Harry, what do you think Snape wanted to talk to Draco about?" she asked quietly. Harry flinched slightly at the use of Malfoy's first name and then shifted closer to Hermione slightly, putting an arm around her comfortingly.

"He might be in on the plan." he muttered.

"What if Snape gets angry at him for being with me?" Hermione asked, turning her head around again.

"He looked angry enough when he entered the library, I think it's more a question of what he'll do rather than if he's angry." Harry sighed, hoping that wouldn't upset Hermione too much. When she didn't say anything in reply he decided to say something else that had been on his mind. "What would you do if Ron dumped Lavender and asked you out?"

Hermione was startled by his question and frowned as she looked at him.

"I-I don't know." she admitted. "I'd have to refuse him, wouldn't I? I mean, I'm with Dra-"

"But you heard him when I said you'd leave if he carried out his mission. He said it was unavoidable." Harry interrupted quickly. "If he doesn't think your relationship is going to last, why don't you just break it off now?"

Hermione stared down at the ground, pain in her eyes as she thought over what Harry was saying and couldn't find a hole in his reasoning.

"But I've fallen for him, Harry!" she finally protested, the first tear spilling from her eyes. "I'll never be able to stop thinking about him. And Ron _isn't_ about to dump Lavender for me."

"I could help you forget." Harry said quietly and cautiously. Hermione looked up again, a question in her eyes as she searched his face for what he was thinking.

"How could _you_ help me-"

Harry leant forward and kissed her, stopping her from finishing what she had been saying and answering her question with actions instead. He had never truly contemplated being her boyfriend, although he did think she was very beautiful.

But then she was pushing him away and she slapped him hard across the cheek, fire in her eyes.

"How _dare_ you!" she gasped out angrily, pulling herself to her feet.

"Merlin Harry!"

Harry quickly got to his feet as well, looking over in shock to see Ron staring over at them with wide eyes.

"I can explain!" Harry said desperately, but he had no idea what to say. Hermione obviously had no feelings for him and Ron would feel like his best friend had just betrayed him. It was practically the end of the world.

"No you can't Harry," Hermione said sadly, sorrow replacing the anger in her eyes as she stared at him. "I'm sorry that you felt you had to do that, but it isn't going to help anything."

"Hermione, will you listen?" Harry pleaded.

"I think you should go." Ron growled, walking over to stand beside her. Harry stared at the two of them for a few moments before sighing in defeat and walking away. He went up to his dorm, slamming the door shut.

"Please don't be mad at him." Hermione said to Ron quietly.

"How can I not be?" Ron burst out angrily. "He kissed you!"

"I know," Hermione looked away and folded her arms, biting her lip. "But he was just trying to help."

"Help?" Ron snapped, before calming down and frowning in worry. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Hermione quickly shook her head and tried to smile, but Ron grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes fiercely.

"Tell me." he ordered firmly and Hermione knew in that instant that he was not going to leave her alone until he knew the truth.

"I- I'm really sorry." she began slowly, pausing when she felt her throat close over. The tears in her eyes were threatening to fall and she turned away slightly, wiping her sleeve across her eyes. She swallowed to try and dislodge the lump. "I fell in love..."

"With Harry?" Ron asked in horror.

"No!" Hermione replied, shaking her head and feeling the first tear fall. "With... Draco!"

Ron stared at her in silence as he tried to comprehend what she had just told him. He couldn't believe that she was telling the truth, but why would she lie about this? Her tears definitely looked real, at least.

"Hermione, you can't love that git." he finally managed to mumble.

"But I do, I really do," Hermione said, stepping towards Ron and hugging him, burying her head into his shoulder. When she next spoke her voice was slightly muffled. "I love him and he's going to do something terrible!"

"Hermione," Ron said gently, putting his arms around her and holding her close to try and comfort her. "Forget about him."

"I can't!" she said instantly.

"But... I love you... and I always have."


	15. Chapter 14

"You had better have a good explanation." Snape growled as he slammed the door behind them both, shutting them in an empty classroom so that they could talk.

"Well, it's not what it looked like if that's what you wanted to hear. Not entirely, anyway." Draco said, keeping his eyes on the ground and trying to sound nonchalant. Snape didn't seem to be taking it too well.

"So what part of you're seeing Hermione Granger isn't entirely true?" he hissed.

"It's all part of my plan!" Draco shot back, lifting his eyes now to glare at his Professor. Snape raised an eyebrow, waiting for the boy to continue and not at all intimidated. "I needed her help with something and knew I had to make her fall for me before I could ask her for any favours."

"So that's why you've taken so long to get your mission into action? You spent the time getting _friendly_ with Miss Granger?" Snape asked in disbelief, saying the word 'friendly' as if it was dirty.

"In a sense. But I was working on the-" Draco stopped and looked away from Snape again, sighing.

"The what?" Snape asked in a low voice. "Why won't you tell me what you're up to?"

"I'm going to do this on my own!" Draco shouted angrily, his hands clenching into tight fists. "I don't need your help."

"But apparently you needed Granger's. Why on earth did you go to her for help when instead you could have asked _me_?" Snape asked in exasperation.

"Fine! You want to know? It's because I wanted everyone to think I could do it by myself, which I _could_, but if I got Granger to help me no one would have known I'd asked anyone for help since we would have kept our relationship hidden." Draco explained.

"You didn't seem to be hiding it in the library." Snape pointed out threateningly.

"Things didn't go as planned! You must know what girls are like – especially Gryffindors! They always want to make sure you love them and she wanted proof. I was planning on announcing later that I had just been playing with her." Draco shrugged.

"What are you going to do about Miss Parkinson?" Snape asked then, folding his arms and watching Draco closely.

"I'll tell her what I told you." Draco said quietly.

"Why didn't you tell her that before, to ensure she didn't ruin things for you?" Snape pressed further, wanting to get as much information as he possibly could. He hoped something they spoke about soon made Draco slip up and say something else about his mission which he had kept secret so far.

"I didn't think she was interested in me before, or that she would notice anything." Draco said.

"I mean after you knew she knew. Why did you agree to pretend to go out with her instead of just telling her the truth?" Snape asked, curious now as to why Draco was _still_ lying to him.

"Oh," Draco swallowed nervously. "I-"

"You're lying about something, yes, I gathered that much." Snape said before he could continue.

Draco didn't say anything for a moment, just watching Snape and wondering whether he would manage to tell another lie or not. Apparently the man was smarter than he appeared to be at first glance and it was going to take a lot more to fool him.

But of course... Draco didn't know what Snape thought he was lying about. One false move and he could reveal a lie that Snape may not even know about and everything would be for nothing.

"If you don't leave me alone I'll tell him you've been trying to help me." Draco finally said, clenching his teeth afterwards and keeping his appearance neutral.

"You think he'd care?" Snape asked.

"I'm supposed to be doing this alone! No one's meant to help me, so stop trying to!" Draco yelled before turning and leaving the room quickly. He didn't want to be questioned any more and broke out into a run when he heard Snape follow out of the room after him.

Dashing around corners to try and get away before Snape could grab him again and force him to tell more than he wanted to, Draco soon found himself nearing the owlery. He didn't slow down until he had darted up the stairs and gone to the far side window, gripping the window sill and staring out at the grounds beneath.

He listened for a while, worried that Snape would find him up here as well, but after a while of hearing nothing but the hooting of owls and his own breathing he managed to relax.

Then he closed his eyes and sat on the ground, enjoying some time by himself and trying hard not to think about his mission or anything else.


	16. Chapter 15

You've never been so used  
As I'm using you, abusing you  
My little decoy  
Don't look so blue  
You should have seen right through  
I'm using you  
My little decoy  
My little decoy

[Decoy - Paramore]

* * *

Hermione hugged her knees tightly to her chest, resting her chin on them and keeping her eyes closed. She did her best to keep her breathing slow and steady, but inside of her a war was raging and she couldn't figure out what she was supposed to do.

Yesterday was when Ron had proclaimed his love for her. What was she supposed to say in response to that? She felt like the most horrible person for not being able to return his feelings and for also having fallen for his enemy. What kind of friend did that? She should have had more control over the situation!

Slowly lifting her head off her knees, she looked up at the cabinet which was beside her and bit her lip. It was time to let things happen as they would have if nothing had ever happened between herself and Draco.

It was better that way, because they were never meant to last in the first place.

She had wanted to go tell Harry all about what was happening and what Draco had been planning once she came to her own conclusion that he thought his mission was more important than her, but Harry had left a short time before saying he had to go talk to Dumbledore.

Hermione's thoughts were interrupted then. The door to the room of requirement was opened and she quickly but quietly stood to her feet, slipping behind the cabinet and waiting with baited breath.

Footsteps slowly approached the cabinet before stopping in front of it. Hermione's heart rate sped up and she felt sure that something would happen to reveal her to whoever it was – she was positive it was Draco – and she didn't want to face anyone right now.

Especially not Draco.

She wasn't sure what to think now, after what had happened in the library and with Draco being dragged off by Snape. What had Snape said to him? Was he now convinced that she was no good?

The person let out a sigh and immediately Hermione knew for certain it was Draco. She closed her eyes to will herself to stay quiet and listened as Draco tapped his wand against the cabinet gently before murmuring something.

She then heard his footsteps backing up and opened her eyes again, frowning as she wondered what was happening.

"I can do this. I can do this." She heard him mutter to himself and suddenly she was worried that he was about to fulfil his mission and bring the Death Eaters into the castle. And she would be standing right behind the cabinet as it happened!

Hearing pacing, Hermione was momentarily thankful that Draco still had to work at preparing himself for what he was about to do. Obviously it was a big moment, because once he had let them through the cabinet there would be no turning back and he would have to carry out whatever task he had been told to do.

After a few more steady and quiet breaths, Hermione managed to summon enough courage to walk out from behind the cabinet and approach him. This situation had already gotten too far out of hand and she now knew she could not allow Draco to do what he had been told to do. She would help him escape somewhere and they'd hide together.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Draco exclaimed as he turned around to keep pacing and saw her. His eyes widened considerably and he held his breath in shock, waiting for an answer from her.

Hermione stood still as well, having frozen as soon as he spoke to her. What was she supposed to say?

"I came here to think." she whispered.

"Go think somewhere else." Draco snapped angrily, now narrowing his eyes.

"What did Snape say to you?" Hermione asked quickly. Draco hesitated before lowering his eyes and shifting his feet, putting his hands into his pockets.

"Does it matter?" he asked.

"It matters to me." Hermione replied smoothly.

Draco let out a sigh and leant against a table which was dumped to the side of where he was standing. He raised his eyes to look at her again and seemed to study her for a moment in silence.

"He didn't tell me anything. He just asked a whole lot of questions which I answered with lies." he said finally.

"So what were you about to do?" Hermione asked softly.

"What I've been working towards all year! I'm not about to give it all up for you, alright?" Draco pushed away from the table again angrily, pulling his hands from his pockets. They stared at each other tensely for a while.

"You said I could smash it." Hermione mumbled.

"I thought you knew me better than that," Draco laughed. "It was just to impress Potter."

Hermione turned around, finding it difficult to face him any more. She felt as though she were caught in a web of lies that she couldn't escape from. If Draco had lied to Professor Snape, his own house teacher who had seemed to terrify him, wouldn't he lie to her?

Of course he would.

"You don't love me either." Hermione stated. They both knew it wasn't a question. When Draco didn't say anything, Hermione continued, "What _haven't_ you lied to me about Draco?"

With her back still to him, she couldn't see his face and use it to try and determine what he was thinking. She had to force herself not to turn around even though she really wanted to just so that she could know how he was feeling.

"What would you do if I told you I had only befriended you in the first place so that you would help me with the cabinet?"

Draco stared at Hermione's back, his eyes narrowed and his heart pounding in his chest. He was angry at her for still being here because her presence alone now brought doubts into his mind, and he was also annoyed that she was asking the questions she was.

"That _can't_ be true." Hermione said quietly, still not turning around. He could hear the pain in her voice and knew he was affecting her. Now was his chance to get rid of her for once and for all. It was for the best.

"It is." Draco said calmly, putting his hands back into his pockets.

That was when Hermione turned around, tears spilling over her cheeks and a look of exposed pain on her face.

"You're lying to me again! Just as you have been doing all year. But I know this is a lie because when I first tried to help you you wouldn't let me! You told me not to." Hermione exclaimed.

Draco shook his head firmly and folded his arms, doing his best not to be affected by her appearance or her words. He couldn't let that happen or he'd never end up doing his task and his family would be murdered.

The choice was easy, really. Hermione or his parents?

"Perhaps I should be given an acting award." Draco shrugged. "Believe me, none of our relationship was real. Why else do you think I said I wouldn't care if you left me once I'd carried out my task?"

"No. You're lying." Hermione murmured almost to herself, wrapping her arms around herself and rolling her lips inwards. Draco watched her for a few seconds longer before turning away, not being able to take any more.

"You should get out. Unless you'd like to be the first one to die." he said.

"Not that you'd care." Hermione hissed.

"It's your choice," Draco shrugged, pulling his wand out of his pocket again and stepping towards the cabinet and, unfortunately, Hermione. "You have approximately five seconds to get out of here."

Hermione watched as he raised his wand to the cabinet before gasping and turning to run for the door. She heard him tap his wand against the wood and had almost reached the door when the sound of the cabinet door creaking open and a rushing sound of wind reached her ears. She dove behind a pile of junk and took a deep breath, crouching low and hoping desperately that they wouldn't find her.

"So far so good, Draco." said a female voice that Hermione recognised as Bellatrix Lestrange. She involuntarily shivered and closed her eyes tightly to try and make herself more invisible.

Then a lot of footsteps were heard as they began to make their way to the door and Hermione felt almost positive that they would be able to hear her heart because it was beating incredibly loudly in her ears. When they passed the place she was crouched she held her breath until they had continued on before slowly letting it out in relief.

The door opened and she heard them leave, but the last person paused.

"Wait, I forgot something." She heard Draco's voice and frowned, wondering what he was up to. "I'll catch up."

"Don't take too long." Bellatrix warned him before walking off. The door was shut and Hermione waited in silence before squealing as someone's hand came behind her and went around her mouth, pulling her backwards.

"Be quiet." Draco snapped quietly into her ear and she instantly silenced, but was still frightened. He removed his hand from her mouth and slowly turned her around to face him.

"What are you-"

Hermione never finished her sentence. Draco leant forward and stopped her from saying anything by kissing her, his arms holding her tightly as he did so.

But it was over too soon and he was striding away over to the door, leaving her for his mission.

"Draco!" she called out, but he didn't even glance over his shoulder as he opened the door again and slipped out, shutting it firmly behind him.

* * *

End.

Fin.

This is the last chapter of In the Library.

**BUT THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL!!**

**A SEQUEL! _A SEQUEL!! YES!!_**

So keep your eyes open for that, kay? I haven't quite decided on a title for it yet... but I want it to be similar to the title of this story. So it will possibly be 'In the ….' but I'm still not quite sure.

Just make sure you don't give up on this story yet! Because this is only the end of the beginning!

Thought I'd just let you all know that.


End file.
